Relèven

06/07/2026

One ask before the week is out.

This November, leaders from across the country gather in Winnipeg — and they'll be handed the list of everyone who signed the Winnipeg Declaration. Your name on that list is a signal that Canadians want faith-owned land working for housing and community.

It takes a minute. And then send it to one person who'd want to add their name too.

👉 Sign + share: winnipegdeclaration.ca

06/06/2026

The Winnipeg Declaration isn't just about land and buildings — it's about people, and about doing this the right way.

That means centering justice, dignity, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. It means welcoming the community organizations already caring for their neighbours. And it means meeting in public, every year, to show our progress and stay accountable.

This is a movement anyone can be part of — people of all backgrounds and beliefs.

👉 Add your name: winnipegdeclaration.ca

06/05/2026

Nous lançons cette semaine la Déclaration de Winnipeg, un engagement national visant à mettre les terrains appartenant aux communautés religieuses au service du bien commun.

Deux tendances se rejoignent actuellement à travers le Canada. Près d’un tiers de nos quelque 27 000 lieux de culte pourraient fermer leurs portes d’ici une décennie. Parallèlement, les collectivités auront besoin d’environ 3,5 millions de logements supplémentaires d’ici 2030. Prises séparément, il s’agit de deux crises. Considérées ensemble, elles constituent une occasion unique qui ne se présente qu’une fois par génération.

Les communautés religieuses sont les deuxièmes plus grands propriétaires fonciers du pays — leurs biens immobiliers sont situés en centre-ville, accessibles par les transports en commun et déjà intégrés aux quartiers. La Déclaration de Winnipeg est un engagement public visant à consacrer une part significative de ces terrains au logement abordable, aux services de soutien et aux infrastructures communautaires — dans le cadre d’un partenariat et avec un engagement profond en faveur de la réconciliation avec les peuples autochtones.

Les signataires seront présentés aux dirigeants nationaux qui se réuniront à Winnipeg en novembre prochain. Ajoutez votre nom.

Signez et partagez :

Un engagement national pour mobiliser les terrains religieux et mettre fin à l'itinérance au Canada

06/05/2026

Want to see what this looks like in real life? It's taking shape in communities across the country.

In Winnipeg, for example, West Broadway Commons, a 12-story 110-unit housing project was built on land belonging to All Saints Anglican Church. Land that sat underused, reimagined as homes for people who need them.

That's the whole idea behind the Winnipeg Declaration — and it's already happening. "We can end homelessness in Canada," says our CEO Graham Singh. "There's no doubt about it."

Be part of making it real.

👉 Sign today: winnipegdeclaration.ca

06/04/2026

A fact that reframes the housing conversation: after government, faith communities are the second-largest landholder in Canada.

These aren't remote parcels. They're churches, halls, and grounds in the centre of our cities and towns — transit-accessible, zoned into established neighbourhoods, and already serving the public in quiet ways. As buildings age and congregations change, much of this land sits underused at exactly the moment our cities need it most.

The barrier is rarely the land itself. Coordination — not land — is consistently the primary barrier to activation. The Winnipeg Declaration exists to change that: a shared, public commitment that brings faith communities, municipalities, planners, developers, and funders to the same table.

Be part of it: winnipegdeclaration.ca

06/03/2026

It's here. Today we launch the Winnipeg Declaration.

Across Canada, faith communities hold an extraordinary amount of land — much of it central, well-connected, and already at the heart of a neighbourhood. At the same time, far too many people don't have a safe, affordable place to call home.

The Winnipeg Declaration is a simple, hopeful commitment: to put a meaningful share of faith-owned land to work for the public good — for housing, for community spaces, for ending homelessness — together, and in partnership with Indigenous peoples.

This is the beginning of a national movement, and it starts with your name.

👉 Sign and share: winnipegdeclaration.ca

The Winnipeg Declaration on the Deployment of Canada’s Religious Land to End Homelessness

06/01/2026

Walking alongside Gethsemane Lutheran, Seattle has been one of the genuine privileges of recent Relèven work.

Gethsemane is not at the beginning of this journey. Years ago, the congregation undertook a major redevelopment — turning their site into a mixed-use community asset with affordable housing above the church and program space for community organizations on the lower level. When two long-term tenants moved out and the building's downstairs felt suddenly quiet again, Gethsemane faced a familiar question with a less familiar answer: reduce operations, or reimagine the next chapter.

They chose to reimagine.

With Relèven alongside, the congregation listened — to itself, to its finances, to its building, and to its neighbours. Forty-six community organizations were engaged in the process. The priorities that emerged were Gethsemane's own: financial stability, partnerships rooted in justice and inclusion, expanding community access while keeping worship at the centre.

What is now taking shape is a thriving urban community hub — immigration services, advocacy, food programs, the arts, and worship, all under one roof. A second chapter that is harder than the first, and worth every honest conversation it has cost.

One phrase from this work has stayed with us: 'from church questions to community questions.' That shift — quiet, slow, deeply faithful — is the whole work.

Grateful for Gethsemane's trust. Grateful for the partnership. The church is full of leaders meeting this moment with courage and imagination, and we are honoured to walk alongside them.

05/28/2026

A question we hear often from congregational leaders: "How do we even begin to think about our building's future when there's so much else to hold?"

It is the right question. And it deserves more than a quick answer — but it does not need to wait for a cohort, a conference, or a consultant in the room.

The Property Strategy Course is Relèven's free, self-guided introduction to that question. Eight short sessions, thirty minutes each, online. Designed for clergy, board members, and lay leaders who want to think carefully about their building and land without committing to a schedule or a process before they are ready.

What you'll find: practical frameworks for understanding your property, language for the conversations a vestry or board needs to have, and a clear sense of what the next concrete step could be. No pressure. No timeline. Work through it when the season is right for your congregation.

Start anytime:

Is your congregation facing rising maintenance costs, underused space, or an uncertain property future? Enroll free in Relèven's Property Strategy Course — 8 modules designed for church leaders and board members covering property valuation, affordable housing, community hubs, financial sustainabi...

05/27/2026

Edmonton congregations — there is something new on the table for you.

The City of Edmonton - Local Government and Edmonton Community Foundation are now offering early-stage funding to help religious land holders explore what housing on their property could look like. Visioning. Feasibility. Planning. Partnerships. The kind of careful, considered work that usually stops before it starts because the resources aren't there.

This changes things. For congregations who have wondered whether their building and land could serve their neighbourhood in new ways — but who couldn't see a path past the first questions — this is a real path.

Relèven has been walking alongside Canadian congregations through these decisions for nearly a decade. We were proud to convene the Edmonton Faith Properties Roundtable last November with our partners at Mapyourproperty and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and we are encouraged to see the City and ECF step into this moment.

If your congregation is sensing this might be the season to look up from the day-to-day and ask what your land could still become, we would love to walk that question with you.

Get in touch to access these granting opportunities: https://releven.org/en/contact-us

01/02/2026

Across the country, communities are re-imagining what faith-rooted properties can become—housing, arts spaces, community hubs, and places of welcome.

In the year ahead, Relèven will continue to accompany congregations and partners through complex decisions, helping them align property, purpose, and impact.
Here’s to a year of courage, creativity, and renewed mission.