The office of Alliance Justice and Compassion exists to facilitate the justice and compassion ministries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada by resourcing, networking and promoting the local, national, and international ministries of the Alliance that impact the poor, marginalized and those who suffer injustice. This office also oversees the C&MA’s engagement in global disaster response, our Canadian Foodgrains Bank food programming, and the Refugee Private Sponsorship Agreement Holder program with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Whether it is a poor widow in West Africa receiving loaner goats to start her own herd, or a hungry man that lives on a downtown street being fed by a local church in Canada – these ministries may not be the first thing you think about when you consider the Christian and Missionary Alliance. In reality, our family of churches is recapturing the strategic priority of justice and compassion that was central to our genesis 125 years ago. We are on a journey towards restoring a biblical balance of declaring and demonstrating the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God reveals himself as compassionate and just towards the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, the fatherless, and the widow. Throughout Scripture God instructs His people to be a community that reflects his nature; a people of compassion, justice, and mercy. Thus, acts of compassion and generosity are important spiritual disciplines that we must cultivate in our life; to care for the poor and oppressed; to live generously toward others’ needs. In doing so, we carry on the ministry of Jesus and reflect an accurate image of God to the world.
Justice ensures that all people are valued and treated with dignity and fairness because all are loved by God and made in his image. Sin causes humans to have a distorted worldview that allows for prejudices that devalue others. As a result, people suffer injustice. Jesus came to redeem our relationships with God, one another and his creation. We are called to be ministers of this message of reconciliation and serve people, releasing them from spiritual, physical, social and economic bondages.
