Summer Ministry at Soul
The summer months have always been an important season of ministry at Soul Sanctuary. While many churches slow down in the summer, we choose to capitalize on the time that children and youth are not in school by offering summer camps and additional mid-week events that are designed to serve the families of Soul Sanctuary and those in our local south Winnipeg community at large.
For the last 10 years Soul Sanctuary has consistently relied on the support of the Canada Summer Jobs program to hire upwards of 12 summer staff who, under the leadership of our regular ministry staff, help plan and lead our kids camps, YOUNG+WILD Summer Camp, and organize kids and youth summer events and programs. In recent years Soul Sanctuary has been one of the largest providers of children’s and youth summer programming in the federal riding of Winnipeg South.
In January 2023 our team submitted a Canada Summer Jobs grant application to hire a team of summer ministry staff. However, we have been informed that this year we will not receive Canada Summer Jobs funding towards the successful planning and implementation of our summer ministries. Unfortunately, many other Christian organizations across Canada are in a similar situation.
This disruption to our summer ministry plans equates to reduction of approximately $50,000 in funding. Instead of canceling our plans, we are committed to ensuring a successful summer of kids and youth camps.
The absence of Canada Summer Jobs grants means that we will be unable to hire the support staff that we require to fully staff our summer programs, including the staff who are essential supports to our Sunday children’s ministries in the summer. We have revised our church operating budget to hire two full-time camp directors who are already planning for our camps. We are looking to the Soul Sanctuary community at large to partner with us in our efforts to impact the lives of kids and youth, making this summer the best summer yet!
How to Help
If Soul Sanctuary is your home church community, please consider giving your time and talents towards our kids camps, YOUNG+WILD Summer Camp, or Sunday children’s ministries. Our team is ready to train and equip Servant Leaders who are ready to invest their time, effort, and energy into our summer ministries. The below form walks you through the service opportunities that are available at Soul this summer.
Consider contributing financially towards covering our projected summer ministry deficit. By hiring less summer staff and relying on Servant Leaders for our camps, we are projecting a summer ministry deficit of $20,000.