The Capital Region Interfaith Statement

We, leaders of different religious and spiritual communities in Edmonton and area, come together to express our shared commitment to eliminate homelessness in our community. We support the challenging goals of A Place to Call Home: Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.

 Over the years, religious and spiritual communities have done much to meet the needs of men, women and children living in poverty in our community, and have often been leaders in helping to create affordable housing opportunities for those in need.This historical engagement provides a solid foundation for us to do even more both now and in the future.

The successful launch of Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness provides an historic opportunity for us to move beyond previous short-term strategies of managing homelessness, and to commit to a long term goal of actually eliminating homelessness in our community. Leaders from government, business, community, faith, and social service sectors have come together in common cause to develop and launch Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End  Homelessness.  This  shared  commitment  has  been a major factor in the successes achieved so far in the six years of the Plan’s implementation.

Call to Action

We call upon leaders of all orders of government to continue their public leadership for Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, and to provide the necessary program funding in the years ahead so that the ambitious goal of eliminating homelessness can be truly realized.

We recognize that safe, stable, and affordable housing is a key part of this human thriving. Everyone needs a place that can truly be called home. Religious and spiritual communities and individual community members are present in every part of the city, and we commit to continue and expand our presence in neighbourhood and city  wide homelessness and affordable housing initiatives.

We commit our own religious and spiritual communities to continue to support present initiatives, to find new and creative ways to take action in support of Edmonton’s   10 Year Plan to End Homelessness and address the issues of homelessness and affordable housing in our communities. We have prepared a Congregational Housing Action Guide to support and encourage our congregations in addressing these issues in an effective manner.

We invite everyone from all sectors of society in Edmonton to become part of this important initiative to eliminate homelessness by committing to learn more about the causes of homelessness in our city, and to participate in specific actions in support of our homeless brothers and sisters in a spirit of solidarity and mutual respect.

We call for our religious and spiritual communities to work together more closely and make a major contribution to the success of this Plan. Our religious and spiritual communities share important values: respect for human dignity, solidarity with those who are poor and vulnerable, and an affirmation of the importance of inclusive and welcoming communities where individuals and families can thrive.

First signed on March 17, 2011 and in a renewed commitment November 13, 2014 by the following signatories:

Bishop Jane Alexander       Anglican  Diocese  of Edmonton

Elder Fred Campiou             Indigenous Elders Cultural Resource Circle Society

Major Ron Cartmell             The Salvation Army, Alberta and Northern Territories Division

Rev. Harry Currie                  Presbytery of Edmonton-Lakeland, Presbyterian Church in Canada

Avau Fast                                 Zoroastrian  Association  of Edmonton

Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete      Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and  Action

Rev. Mervin Gallant             Edmonton Presbytery, United Church of Canada

Balvant Gandhi                      Hindu Society of  Alberta

Patti Hartnagel                       Edmonton Monthly Meeting, Religious Society  of Friends

Pastor Bonnie Hodge            Beulah  Alliance Church

Prem Kalia                                International Buddhist Friends Association

Rev. Brian Kiely                       Unitarian  Church  of Edmonton

Bishop Larry Kochendorfer  Synod of Alberta and the Territories, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Rev. Kevin Kraglund             Edmonton and District Council of   Churches

Bart Lambrecht                      Baha’i  Assembly of Edmonton

Pastor Wayne McNeilly       Evangel Pentecostal Assembly

Bishop David Motiuk            Ukrainian  Eparchy  of Edmonton

Rev. John Pasma                     Covenant  Christian  Reformed Church

Bryan Peacock                         Moravian Church in Canada

Masood Peracha &  Sofia Yaqub     The Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities

Dr. Randy Randhawa               Sikh Society of Alberta

Pam Reichenbach                    Strathcona Baptist Church

Rabbi Kliel Rose                        Beth Shalom Synagogue

Archbishop Richard Smith    The Catholic Archdiocese of  Edmonton

Rev. Rick VanDewark                     Edmonton Evangelical Ministerial Association

Advertisement
%d bloggers like this: