Mustard
Seed Church benefit
Remarks
by David Kilgour, P.C., M.P., Edmonton Southeast
at a benefit concert for
The Mustard Seed Street
Church
Ellerslie Road Baptist Church,
Edmonton, 27 September 1997
It is a
pleasure to be with you
this evening. I would like
to begin by commending The
Mustard Seed Street Church
for facilitating so many
worthwhile and much needed
services to so many. For
nine years Mustard Seed
has explored the very edges
of misery, delinquency and
hopelessness in our city’s
urban core and with the
determination and enthusiasm
of its workers and supporters
attempted to defeat despair,
restore hope and provide
comfort for bodies and souls.
The Mustard
Seed ministries’ dedicated
work is all about people
who, guided by a vision
of a better world often
work off the beaten track,
out of the limelight and
far from the headlines.
There are many success stories
made possible thanks to
the efforts of The Mustard
Seed Street Church - it
is all about people whose
quiet everyday struggle
for justice defines humanity
and inspires others to action.
The Mustard Seed Street
Church’s pro-active
and caring response to present
day realities deserves the
support of all of us here
and the community at large.
I would
like to thank everyone who
contributed to tonight’s
concert. We need more successful
events like this to highlight
the services the Church
is bringing to the community,
to increase the awareness
of its work and to increase
participation and donations
from community clubs, corporations,
churches, businesses and
individuals.
With fundamental
values and self-confidence,
one’s chances of earning
a better quality of life
is improved. But it is not
enough; individuals must
develop a sense of community
early on. Participation
on the part of individual
citizens is essential if
any community is to experience
lasting economic and social
growth.
Human aspiration
is guided by a simple idea
- people come first. It
is as concerned with the
generation of economic growth
as with its distribution;
as concerned with basic
needs as with the spectrum
of human aspirations; as
concerned with the human
distress of loneliness as
with the merits of companionship;
and as concerned with the
joy of life as with the
certainty of ethics.
As the twentieth
century closes, our world
faces enormous and numerous
challenges which, if we
deal with them effectively,
will assure our children
of a better tomorrow. The
Mustard Seed Street Church
has in the past effectively
initiated/sponsored much
needed programs and I am
sure will continue to do
so in the future. If the
rest of us can take your
example and inspiration,
perhaps the world will once
again recognize the importance
of human responsibility.
Thank you
and God bless.
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