CYCLICAL WINNIPEG

SUPPORT FOR YOU

If you are a church leader of any kind, you have felt the weight and frustration of trying to do something new. It can often feel like nobody is there to understand or to help. Cyclical Winnipeg is a community of practitioners who understand how isolating innovative leadership can be.

Our growing collective of ecumenical leaders gathers once a month to eat together, learn, discuss our core covenant values, and be inspired toward transforming our ministries in the direction God is calling.

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WHY FAITHFUL INNOVATION?

In Manitoba, our continuing diversity invites the Church to uncover new or sometimes overlooked ways of living out faith in community.

We support pioneering leaders as they deepen their connection with their neighbourhoods—urban, rural, northern, and everything in between—allowing local places and the people who call them home to help shape forms of Christian community that reflect God’s kingdom right where they are.

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WHAT ARE FAITHFUL INNOVATIONS?

It can sometimes be hard to describe or picture what we mean by “faithful innovation.” The following categories might be helpful, though there can be significant overlap between these. 

New Churches
Because the 20th century industrial church model is not working anymore, we are discovering new and yet faithful ways to start contextual and missional churches.

New Ministries in Existing Churches
More than just a “starting new small group,” here we mean an intentional new ministry within an existing Church structure designed to be missionally meaningful where community can form and flourish. In some contexts, though not always, such ministries can become their own Church, Social Enterprise, or other non-profit.

New Non-Congregational Ministries
Many new ministries are formed that are not churches themselves nor are do they fit within a congregation’s ministry. They might be an ecumenical partnership or a new ministry begun within the framework of a denomination or a regional church judicatory.

Social Enterprises with a Faith Connection
A particular kind of new ministry that combines business innovation with values rooted in faith to create positive social impact.

Things that Don’t Fit in the Box
In the end, most faithful innovation doesn’t quite fit the usual models. Even starting new churches and starting new ministries within church looks very different than in did a generation ago. Still, there are some faithful innovations that stretch beyond what we might have imagined. The Spirit is like that, and it is good for the Church to learn from some of the next new experiments that faithful innovators might be up to!

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WHO IS A FAITHFUL INNOVATOR?

Are you a Faithful Innovator? Is there one in your Church or region that you think might need support?

A faithful innovator is someone discerning toward or is already starting something new. Sometimes early discernment is a stirring or a sense of God’s call. It may just be a seed that hasn’t yet sprouted. Cyclical Winnipeg can help innovators uncover where God is leading them and then take their next faithful steps.

Download a document that describes the markers you can look for in a Faithful Innovator…

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WHERE TO START

Connecting with Cyclical Winnipeg begins with a simple conversation with one of our co-directors, Alexandra Belaskie or Matt Brough.

Either of them are happy to meet for a coffee or jump on a video call to hear a bit about your context and to see if our network can be helpful to you. From there, you can join monthly gatherings and receive further resourcing, coaching, and mutual support.

Co-Directors- Alexandra Belaskie and Matt Brough

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PARTNERSHIPS & THE REGION

While ecumenical in its focus, Cyclical Winnipeg is an initiative of the Presbytery of Winnipeg. A beta test of Cyclical in Winnipeg occurred in 2019, took a break at the beginning of the pandemic, restarted in 2022, and has been working to support leaders since.

The Presbytery of Winnipeg covers a large geographic area: east to Kenora, north to Thompson, west to Winnipeg, and south to the US border. These lands are within Treaties 1, 3, and 5, and are the home of the Cree, Oji-Cree, Dene, Lakota, Dakota, Anishinaabe, and Manitoba Métis peoples. We respect the Treaties that were made on these territories, and we acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past and the present. We strive to build relationships with Indigenous communities in the spirit of relationship and reconciliation, in hopes of a more beautiful and just future.

Cyclical Winnipeg is also in partnership with Cyclical, Inc. and The Presbyterian Church in Canada. There are Cyclical chapters located across North America, Europe and Africa. Click here to find a Cyclical network near you.