Vanden Brink Brings Life of Service to New Position

Rev. Ron Vanden Brink helped launch The Well, a church plant, by organizing a “Service Worship Sunday” in which he and members of the congregation cleaned graffiti from public spaces in the city of Kelowna, B.C.

But they didn’t do it once; they kept at it, cleaning graffiti from telephone poles, phone boxes, and public buildings and then expanding into doing other forms of “Service Worship” as outreach once every month for their Sunday worship.

“Doing service work like that definitely shaped the people who were doing it. They were turning their faith into action and at the same time meeting their neighbors,” said Vanden Brink, who was pastor at The Well for 10 years before taking on a different role this month as national director of Diaconal Ministries Canada (DMC).

“Certainly that mindset [of putting faith into action] is something I bring to this job,” said Vanden Brink, who has taken over from Hans Kater, the DMC director for 14 years.

Volunteering has long been a part of his life, Vanden Brink said, allowing him to work with others and to share his faith with them.

“I want to introduce people to Jesus,” he said. “I’m blessed to be a blessing and in that way make Jesus visible.”

Formally organized in 2001, DMC serves deacons in a variety of ways in the approximately 250 CRC congregations in Canada. The mission of the organization is to inspire, equip, and encourage deacons, churches, and their partners in transforming communities with the love and justice of Christ, says the ministry’s website.

One important program of DMC is Operation Manna, which primarily provides community ministries with coaching, consultation, and equipping in the areas of visioning, board development, strategic planning, networking, goal setting, and evaluation. Operation Manna also provides grants.

“DMC has an important role to play in Canada - we are here to help deacons find their bearings and understand their roles,” said Vanden Brink. “We help them look beyond their churches into their neighborhoods, and we provide support to help them do the the things they feel called to do.”

Vanden Brink grew up in Edmonton, Alta. After graduating from high school, he worked as an electrician. He then attended The King’s University College in Edmonton and later graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Monica, have two grown children.

Vanden Brink served at two other churches before starting The Well, which is located in Kelowna’s Rutland neighborhood, home to many of the city’s working poor and single parents.

He said that among the things they did on those Service Worship Sundays, besides cleaning graffiti, were visiting nursing homes, helping people to clean and maintain their homes, and working in a large community garden.

“I think that doing all that ministry changed us more than it changed the people we served,” said Vanden Brink.

In his new position, he plans to spend a fair amount of time listening, especially to deacons, to find out what is on people’s minds and what needs they and their communities have.

“I see our mission as being here to serve and support and teach deacons so they can be equipped to go out into their communities to do benevolence and to work for justice,” he said.