Congregation connected to community through Victoria's Vital Signs

By Leah Baade

Reverend Allen Saunders is a get-things-done kind of man. He finds a need and he fills it.  As lead minister at First Metropolitan United Church, he is full of energy for our community – members of the congregation and the city he lives in.

The church houses the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA) in the low-income housing complex on the church property. It’s also a stepping-off point for many of the church’s outreach endeavours. From supporting initiatives such as Our Place, Inner-City Dinners and Out of the Rain Shelter for street youth, to recreational outlets for youth in the form of a basketball team, or for drop-in recreation. Still other initiatives focus on the environment and sustainability, health and wellness, music, and youth.

Rev. Saunders leads an active congregation of 627 households at the downtown Victoria church; the 1915 heritage building is a hub of belonging and leadership in our community.

So what’s the connection to the Victoria Foundation? Rev. Saunders regularly bases his Sunday sermons on the findings of Victoria’s Vital Signs.

To coincide with Rights of the Child Day, he highlighted some of Victoria’s challenges and achievements that were identified by our youth respondents. And just last month, his sermon took a serious look at what Victoria graders identified as the top five issues in our community, noting that homelessness, cost of living, addictions, housing and mental illness are all interrelated.

The Vital Signs indicators play a valuable role in how the congregation at First Metropolitan decides where there are challenges that need to be met. They help to prioritize opportunities for outreach. A shortage of funding for the arts in Victoria-area schools means an extra-special opportunity for a music program at the church. Cost-of-living constraints find Rev. Saunders pondering a community kitchen program that would facilitate community building and a sense of accomplishment as participants cook for themselves and each other.

Victoria’s Vital Signs is a key tool for the church in its strategic planning process. While putting together its vision for 2020, First Metropolitan is able to examine future staffing needs and identify the church’s greatest potential for redevelopment.

It’s evident that Rev. Saunders has an inspiring effect on his congregation. Parishioners travel to this church each week from as far away as Sidney and Sooke. First Metropolitan’s message reaches much further than the back pew as he encourages each and every member of the congregation to put their faith into action as soon as they step out the doors.

Leah Baade is Youth in Philanthropy and Social Media Coordinator with Victoria Foundation