Interview with Peter
Photo by George Qua-Enoo
How long have you been attending New City Church?
We have been at New City since May 2010, so it’s been almost 15 years! Back then, New City was still meeting at Melrose United and services were at 5 pm. I wish I could say that’s what drew us in - the ability to sleep in on Sunday! Joking aside, we had spent some time overseas and had been involved at a church plant there. We really enjoyed that experience. It was very much all hands on deck in serving at the church. It felt like there was a strong sense of community at the church because you needed everyone, and that everyone was included in every decision.
How long have you been a part of the Care Team? What about leading the Care Team?
I have been a part of the Care Team since it started in 2017, so almost 8 years. We began the training before the Care Team began in the fall of 2016. The Care Team was then commissioned in June of 2017. I took over leading the Care Team from Leon Burger in May of 2024.
What drew you to being a part of the Care Team?
It was a combination of things. I had a desire to help people and be a part of a hands-on ministry and I have a strong belief that churches should have a mercy ministry. We see it as part of the Church already early in the book of Acts, when the Church commissioned deacons to care for the widows and the poor. Also, Paul mentions qualifications of deacons in his first letter to Timothy. So you get a sense in the Bible that having a mercy ministry is a core aspect of being a church. I thought it was important for us to follow the early church’s example. I also appreciate making an impact in people’s lives.
What do you enjoy about leading the Care Team?
It’s been challenging in a way. I’m the only one left of the original group that was trained 8 years ago. I feel a burden to pass on the experience and what we’ve learned over the years. I want to train people well and carry on the work we’ve been doing over the last few years.
What I’ve realized is that the role of being a leader on a team has its additional challenges and responsibilities. For example, you have to be organized to lead meetings well, make clear decisions together as you go through the agenda, and make sure action items are completed. You feel the need to use people’s time well because the meetings take away time from being at home with their families or other commitments.
But overall, I have enjoyed it and I appreciate the positive feedback from both the team as well as from the community about the work we have been doing.
It’s a balance, leading the Care Team. We have to make tough decisions on how to support people well, and make decisions together as a group. We have limited resources and abilities to care for people, and we try to think through what it means to care for people well.
As the Care Team, we really want to lean into the role of being friends for people. We can’t solve everyone’s problems but instead, we desire to work together for those most in need. It’s hard because we’re not a social agency. We don’t have professional training and we don’t always know if we have the right answers to questions that we get asked. We might not know how to best help people, or even what resources are out there for people to access. This does mean saying no to some requests, but yes to others, depending on the situation. We spend a lot of time praying about our decisions, and we try to do this in a way that is gracious and shows a concern for them.
Overall it’s been a positive experience, learning what our roles are in those situations and how to come together on deciding how to care for people well.
What has been most impactful in your experience with the Care Team?
When we help people, we can really help them through very difficult and stressful circumstances.
For instance, we recently had a family who we helped out through the Christmas holidays and into the new year. There’s still an inherent sense in our culture that if you need help, churches are places you can go to and ask. In this case, this family was someone we had a regular connection with through the Christmas Hamper program. When our Care Team reached out to them in late November / early December regarding the Christmas hampers, we found out that they were functionally homeless, couch surfing with friends, about to get kicked out, and what they really needed was help finding housing. And it was now, or they would be on the street.
We put them up in a series of temporary housing situations for a couple of months while we worked with them to help them find housing. By the end of January, they found a place, and we were able to help them off-ramp out of the difficult situation they were in. Through the Care Team and the Care Team Resource Bank, there was a whole group of people willing to support them in different ways, whether it was groceries, helping them move in, helping them find various household items including furniture and cookware. It was great to see the way our church community helped care for them. They sent us a note of deep appreciation on how our care impacted them.
That experience was a great illustration of why the Care Team exists. It was just a really positive experience of how, as a church, we could help and support this family.
And since then, we’ve also been able to ask them for help and advice based on their experiences and have them share with us what would be helpful for others in similar situations. In a way, they are giving back to us through their feedback!
Do you have anything else you want to share?
If people are looking to be involved in mercy ministry, we would love the help. We have various needs and ways to help. These include the Care Team Resource Bank, which is a group of people who help out with their time and resources on an occasional basis.
In addition, we would love to have a few more members on our Care Team. Our guidelines say that the Care Team should be 6-10 people but we’re usually hovering around 4-6 people, and we’ve never been more than 6. If people are passionate about mercy ministry and want to be involved you are welcome to chat with me or the two elders who are involved, Steve and Varun!
Finally, I would also like to express appreciation to those who have been helping us, both on the Care Team Resource Bank, and especially the other other members of the Care Team. Their hard work, dedication, and wisdom make the work rewarding and it's truly an honour and a privilege to serve God, his people, and this city with them.
