But advocacy is more than just court cases and CCCC has been advocating for virtually our entire existence! In a 1975 report to the CCCC Board, an important “first” was recorded: CCCC made its first representation to the federal government regarding changes in the regulation of charities.

CCCC is intentional about representing Christian charities in the public sphere. We hold seats on key legal and policy committees and participate in one-time consultations and conferences. Being involved and informed on the latest developments allows CCCC to promote policies that reflect the best interests of our members.

Sector Representation

Our 1975 representation was indeed just the first of many advocacy opportunities for CCCC. Here is a sampling of CCCC out-of-court advocacy efforts.

CRA Technical Issues Working Group

CCCC has the opportunity to participate in Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) Technical Issues Working Group which advises the CRA on “issues related to the regulation of registered charities.” It is a forum to “discuss trends and technical issues in the charitable sector” and has traditionally met twice per year. With a transition to virtual meetings in 2020, consultation meetings have taken place more frequently.

Issue-Based Advocacy

Representation is sometimes prompted by particular political, regulatory, or policy issues. For example, CCCC:

• Actively supported Bill S-216 which called for changes to the “direction and control” regime in the Income Tax Act;
• Endorsed the Canada Cares proposal for a 1:1 federal donation matching fund in our 2021 Federal Pre-Budget Consultation submission;
• Expressed concern about the impact on small charities of changes to financial reporting standards;
• Made submissions to CRA as part of its consultation on political activities;
• Urged governments to consider the unique role of places of worship during times of crisis;
• Highlighted concerns about potentially broad and vague criminal law that could capture non-criminal religious practices;
• Collaborated with parallel organizations to provide an explanation of Bill C-4, which criminalizes conversion therapy
• Participated in disbursement quota consultations;
• Participated in ten multi-day consultations with the Charities Directorate to explore issues related to topics such as Advancement of Religion, Control and Direction, Political Activity, Books and Records, and the T3010 redesign.
• Is working to ensure charitable status is not politicized
  • December 2019 mandate letters from the Prime Minister raised concerns that charitable status was becoming a matter of politics. This concern is shared by others in the charitable sector, and CCCC has written multiple letters, met with parallel organizations, prepared sample letters for concerned members, and made ourselves available for conversations and consultation (see Federal Challenges to Charitable Status).
• Mobilized in response to the 2018 Canada Summer Jobs Attestation
  • The 2018 grant application required applicants to agree with a particular moral position taken by the government. It largely impacted faith-based organizations. In response, CCCC quickly mobilized, writing an open letter, participating in an interfaith news conference, writing an op-ed, and meeting with a cabinet Minister. Ultimately, the 2018 Attestation was revised.
• Emphasized the role of religious charities to the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector
  • Also in 2018, CEO John Pellowe made a written submission to the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector entitled, “The Impact of the ‘Advancing Religion’ Charitable Sub-Sector in Canada.” A few months later, in March 2019, he was able to make an in-person presentation (at 11:12:40) to the Committee, highlighting key elements of the paper.

Research & Writing

CCCC has also supported and encouraged academic work, including the research, writing and publication of books and journal articles by our legal staff. A few of the many publications are:

• Religion, Liberty and the Jurisdictional Limits of Law  (Eds. Iain T. Benson and Barry W. Bussey) 2017

• The Status of Religion and the Public Benefit in Charity Law (Ed. Barry W. Bussey) 2020

• The Inherence of Human Dignity: Foundations of Human Dignity, Vols 1 &2 (Eds. Angus J.L. Menuge & Barry W. Bussey), 2021
• “Blazing the Path: Freedom of Conscience as the Prototypical Right” (Supreme Court Law Review 98, 2020)
• “The Canada Summer Jobs Debate and the Democratic Decline” (Supreme Court Law Review, 2019)
• “Religious Equality: Restoring Section 15’s Hollowed Ground” (Supreme Court Law Review, 2019)

Legal Advocacy

In 1984, CCCC established its Trust Fund for Legal Defence (the Fund) to fund its coordination and organization of legal responses to issues initiated by governments on behalf of CCCC members and the Christian community as a whole.

CCCC leadership understood that court decisions impact more than just the parties involved. Decisions set precedents, and precedents act like a rock thrown into a pond… the ripples of a win or a loss in one case can spread far and wide.

CCCC felt strongly that charities facing significant legal challenges should be supported, to the benefit of the broader community.

Although CCCC has administered some initiatives on its own, many have been undertaken in cooperation with other national bodies, such as Christian Camping International, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association. Interventions, that is, participating in court cases as a friend of the court, but not as a main party –  have also become a significant part of CCCC legal work.

Cases & Issues

What are some of the issues and cases? Here’s a sampling:

Clergy Residence Deduction

In the mid-1990s, re-assessments by Revenue Canada of clergy residence deduction, which had occurred sporadically since the mid 1980’s, began to occur at an ever-increasing rate. Thousands of ministry workers were disallowed their clergy residence deductions (CRD), with some for more than 10 years. This prompted the biggest legal challenge that CCCC has ever coordinated through the Fund.

A series of cases were heard by the Tax Court of Canada in the spring, summer and fall of 1998. They all dealt with the proper interpretation of paragraph 8(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act. As one decision summarized it, that section “grants a deduction in computing income in respect of the residence of members of the clergy, ministers and members of religious orders” (Austin v The Queen, 1999 CanLII 453).

In court, lawyers argued that the term “religious order” must give faith communities freedom to follow their own traditions in recognizing their spiritual leaders. The Tax Court agreed. It held that it was inappropriate for CRA officials to make determinations based on one faith community’s template for clergy and apply it to other faith communities. The definition of a religious order was appropriately broadened to include mission agencies and ministries from other faith communities.

CRA did not appeal these decisions (see, for example, Alemu v The Queen, Koop v The Queen), so CCCC’s hard-fought wins in the Tax Court meant increased clarity for all parties about how CRD eligibility is to be determined.

As a result of this court challenge, CRA consulted with CCCC on the wording and then issued a revised Interpretation Bulletin (IT 141R) to further clarify CRD eligibility, and the Income Tax Act was amended to bring further clarity about eligibility requirements.

Sidenote! As part of the CRD court cases, CCCC sought and was granted, access to information for any material related to Canada Revenue Agency’s (at the time Revenue Canada) interpretation of the term “religious order” in s 8(1)(c) ITA (see Canadian Council of Christian Charities v. Canada (Minister of Finance), [1999] 4 F.C. 245). Courts still regularly rely on this decision when weighing access to information requests!

Religious Hiring

In the early 1990s, CCCC was involved in a religious hiring case before the Human Rights Tribunal in Manitoba. The issue in that matter was the ability of an organization to hire on the basis of religious conviction.

In Schroen, the former employee held a different set of religious beliefs where the gulf between them “deep and wide” and one with “sharp divisions.” The Tribunal held that requiring an accounting clerk to adopt the organization’s statement of faith was reasonable and necessary to assure the College could achieve its religious objects.

Any type of special interest organization -religious, philanthropic, cultural, etc. – must have the freedom to hire in accordance with its particular purposes and needs, including specific beliefs in the context of religious organizations.

Private School Donations

The mid-1990s was a busy time for CCCC! Around that same time, the Charities Division of Revenue Canada began a national program to audit every independent school in Canada. The audits resulted in many challenges and re-assessments of gift by parents to schools where they had children in attendance. Ultimately, this resulted in a successful appeal to the Tax Court of Canada (TCC), Woolner v Canada, [1997] TCJ No 1395.

The TCC held that the payments made for religious training were not tuition education payments but payments made to demonstrate and describe the Mennonite faith and life. As such, the donations over and above the ‘secular’ tuition amount were charitable donations.

As a result of the Woolner decision, thousands of charitable gift credits were re-assessed and granted by Revenue Canada.

GST Assessments

Still in the late 1990s, CCCC spearheaded several appeals to the Tax Court relating to various GST issues, including Camp Kahquah Corp v The Queen, 1998 CanLII 552 (TCC). The issue was whether a camper’s fee falls within a GST exemption for services rendered by a charity as a mixed supply?

Taxable supplies are subject to GST. A taxable supply is made in the course of a commercial activity. A commercial activity is a business or trade. Except for listed items, charities that supply personal property or services are exempt. One of those listed items is “a service involving […] supervision or instruction in any recreational or athletic activity.”

Government lawyers argued that the camper fee charged by Camp Kahquah was a fee in respect of services “involving” (interpreted by CCRA as “including”) supervision or instruction in any recreational or athletic activity and therefore such services were included in the exception to the general exemption for all supplies made by charities.

CCCC’s appeal successfully argued that the word “involving” could not be interpreted as “including” by pointing to the French version of the statute – the entire supply had to be supervision or instruction in any recreational or athletic activity to be taxable. It couldn’t be combined with other supplies for this purpose.

The government appealed the Camp Kahquah decision to the Federal Court of Appeal but withdrew the appeal shortly before the hearing.

Note! A few years later, in Camp Mini-Yo-We Inc. v Canada, 2006 FCA 413, the Federal Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that “it is not the purpose but the nature of the supply that is examined.” In the FCA’s view, the fact that the camps involved supervision or instruction in the context of recreational or athletic activities was “enough to remove it from the general exemption” for charities (para 33).

Following this reversal by the court, CCCC met with CRA officials and the outcome was a fair approach to audits and re-assessments of camps that operated in good faith based on the Camp Kahquah decision. They were not penalized or re-assessed so long as they began to charge and remit GST as per the Mini-Yo-We decision.

GST Exemptions on Services Provided Outside Canada

When is a charity entitled to a 100% rebate of GST paid in respect of property or services received by the charity and exported for charitable purposes? That was the issue in Greater Europe Mission (Canada) v Canada.

The charity claimed it was entitled to a 100% rebate because it is essentially impossible to apply the Excise Tax Act requirement that a service be exported.  The plain meaning of the word “export” is to send an article or commodity from one country to another in return for goods, money or service. A service itself cannot therefore be exported within the plain meaning. The object of the Excise Tax Act requirement must then be to tax consumption within Canada. The Mission’s service were therefore subject to the 100% rebate.

The Tax Court disagreed. While the Tax Court acknowledged that the relevant section of the Excise Tax Act only applies to very narrow, limited circumstances. But because it can be applied, it is not meaningless and the Tax Court did not have to consider the underlying object of the Act.

An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal was dismissed, and the Supreme Court of Canada did not grant leave to (allow an) appeal.

See Greater Europe Mission (Canada) v Canada, [1996] GSTC 79 (Tax Court of Canada); (1999), 93 ACWS (3d) 265 (Federal Court of Appeal); [2000] SCCA no. 25 (Supreme Court of Canada).

Employment Insurance Exemptions for Overseas Missionaries

Do overseas missionaries have to pay employment insurance? That was the issue in SIM Canada v Canada (Minister of National Revenue), [1986] TCJ No 1133 (Tax Court of Canada).

If a person’s employment falls within certain definitions, that employment is insurable, which means the employment insurance premiums must be paid. Part of the definition of insurable employment is when a person “normally resides in Canada.” The meaning of this phrase would determine whether overseas missionaries were exempt from employment insurance premiums.  

Ultimately the Tax Court held that the Unemployment Insurance Act and regulations “stand alone in their failure to extend benefits” to people outside Canada, “or who specifically are missionaries.” Other legislation (e.g. old age security regulations, Canada Pension Plan) specifically identify people who live abroad, whereas the Unemployment Insurance Act is silent. The intention of the unemployment insurance legislation is therefore to exclude the benefits from people who aren’t resident.

The Minister appealed the decision to the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA), Canada (Deputy Attorney General) v SIM Canada, (1988), 10 ACWS (3d) 100. In a four-paragraph decision, the FCA agreed with the Tax Court and dismissed the appeal.

Membership in Religious Associations

In two recent Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) cases, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada St. Mary Cathedral v. Aga, 2021 SCC 22 and Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Judicial Committee) v Wall, 2018 SCC 26 (May 31, 2018), the SCC dealt with the question of membership in voluntary religious associations and whether/when courts should interfere in that decision-making process.

In Wall, Mr. Wall argued that the Highwood Congregation shouldn’t have removed him from membership – his real estate business suffered because of it and the court has jurisdiction to review the Highwood Congregation’s decision. Similarly, in Aga, former Church members asked the court to review the Church’s decision to suspend their membership arising from an internal church controversy.

CCCC intervened in both cases. Why? Membership in religious communities is voluntary, and courts are not competent to deal with religious disputes. These two overarching themes: public versus private, and court competence, were CCCC’s focus in Wall.

In Aga, there was an interesting wrinkle that dealt with charitable donations. The Ontario Court of Appeal decision commented that a civil contract had been created between the former members and the Church, in part because the members committed to making donations. CCCC was extremely concerned about the implications of this reasoning for all charities, including churches.

In both decisions, the SCC affirmed that voluntary, religious associations are free to determine their membership requirements and disciplinary process without court oversight or interference. In Aga, the SCC did not find any evidence of a contract between the former members and the church and it did not have to evaluate the nature of any donations made (summary of Wall; summary of Aga).

These were excellent outcomes for voluntary associations generally and for churches specifically.

Education and Religious Freedom: Loyola

Can a Catholic high school teach religion, including Catholicism, from a Catholic perspective? That is the essence of the issue in the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Loyola High School v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 12, a court case in which CCCC intervened.

The Quebec government required Loyola, a private Jesuit high school in Montreal, to teach the government’s Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) course. Loyola’s mandate was to teach and embody Roman Catholic beliefs and faith. The school did not object to the ERC goals or competencies (e.g. understanding world religions), but it did object to the ERC’s restrictions against the school teaching from its religious perspective, against its teachers sharing their religious or ethical viewpoints, and against teaching that the Christian understanding of God is true. It therefore sought an exemption and the right to use its own curriculum. The government denied Loyola’s request and the court challenge began.

As a membership organization of over 3,200 Christian charities, CCCC understands religious freedom to be integral for religious organizations to pursue their ministries of service. In light of this overarching perspective, our intervention at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) focused on five key issues:

• Highlight the importance of a Christian identity in carrying out (or putting into practice) their faith through service
• Reinforce the historical importance of religious freedom for both individuals and institutions
• Encourage the development of the law regarding institutional religious freedom
• Identify potential consequences for institutions if they are denied religious freedom
• Educate the courts and the public about the important role of Christian charities

Loyola was largely successful in its appeal! The court agreed that religious freedom has “communal aspects”: it has a “socially embedded nature … [with] deep linkages between this belief and its manifestation through communal institutions.” In this case Loyola’s religious freedom was infringed; however, the specific question about whether corporations enjoy religious freedom in their own right was, in the majority’s view, not necessary to answer.

As for what Loyola could or couldn’t teach, the majority sent its request for an exemption back to the Quebec government with clear instructions that Loyola could be expected to teach other religions in a “neutral” way but at the same time it was not required to “shed” its own beliefs. Quebec needed to take a more balanced approach in recognizing Loyola’s Charter-protected freedom.

Education and Religious Freedom: TWU

Beginning in 2015, CCCC was involved in a series of court challenges in both Nova Scotia and British Columbia relating to Trinity Western University’s (TWU) proposed law school. The law school was initially approved by the Federation of Law Societies. It is the national governing body for the provincial law societies, which regulate the legal profession. However, several provincial law societies objected to some of TWU’s religious beliefs and took positions that they would not recognize TWU’s law school or its law students. This led to a series of court challenges: Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Ontario. CCCC was not granted intervener status in the Ontario cases.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal and Ontario Court of Appeal decisions were heard by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in 2017; the decisions were released in 2018.

CCCC’s interventions focused on how the court decision would impact the broader religious institutional context. Religious communities are diverse and their constitutional freedom to decide for themselves their own internal organizational rules must be upheld. The Charter requires that institutional diversity, a plurality of voices and beliefs, and valuing private religious institutions be protected and preserved as part of the Canadian cultural mosaic. As Justice Campbell explained, “[t]he Charter is not a blueprint for moral conformity. Its purpose is to protect the citizen from the power of the state, not to enforce compliance by citizens or private institutions with the moral judgments of the state” (Trinity Western University v. Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, 2015 NSSC 25 para 10).

Ultimately, in a 7-2 decision, the SCC ruled against TWU. The majority held that it was reasonable to deny TWU’s law school accreditation. Law societies’ objective to uphold and protect the public interest in the administration of justice means it was reasonable for them to conclude that promoting equality with the legal profession was impeded by the existence of a private law school with religiously-informed community commitments.

There is so much more to the SCC decisions – If you really want to dive deep you can read the actual decisions here (Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, 2018 SCC 32; Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2018 SCC 33) or you can read our TWU blog post series (written by our Director of Legal Affairs at that time, Barry Bussey).

The post Our Advocacy appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

The Canadian Centre for Christian Charities (CCCC) exists as a specialized resource for Christian churches and ministries to help them build great organizations to support their mission work.

Our vision is that every Canadian Christian organization will be an exemplary, healthy, and effective Christian ministry. What does that look like? Let’s break our vision down.

Exemplary

An exemplary ministry provides a compelling example of an organization operating with excellence in its life and work.

• The ministry has an impeccable way of being. Every part of the ministry’s organization is precisely designed to fulfil the ministry’s mission with excellence.
• A ministry’s organizational life and work are models for best practices.
• The ministry researches, experiments, innovates, and advances its field of knowledge for the good of the Christian cause.
• The ministry is visionary, bold, and innovative, confidently finding its own way to be relevant and practical in pursuing its mission.

Healthy

A healthy ministry is well-resourced with an ongoing flow of people, money, and strategy so it is indefinitely sustainable and primed for growth.

• The ministry’s board and senior leadership fulfil their functions faithfully.
• The ministry has a winning strategy that cares for the organization, is authentically Christian, and that engages with other ministries.
• The ministry’s people flourish under skillful team leadership that promotes teamship, care, and development.
• The ministry has the financial resources, people, and assets it needs to carry out its mission.
  

Effective

An effective ministry gets the right things done. Effectiveness is evidenced by every part of the ministry accomplishing its intended purpose and the ministry regularly making progress in fulfilling its mission.

• The ministry is insightful, reflective, and judicious in how it fulfils its mission.
• The ministry’s plans address corporate ethos and strategy, required workforce expertise, performance standards, and objective milestones.
• The ministry’s plans are supported by strong project management, quality management, and rigorous evaluations that ensure internal systems produce high-quality output.
• The ministry’s commitment to its mission is so strong that it is resilient and ready to adapt to new circumstances at any time.

Christian

A Christian ministry provides an attractive, authentic witness to Christ’s values and character because it is distinctively Christian in all aspects of organizational life.

• Christian core values, beliefs, and attributes are central to the ministry’s life and are actively safeguarded from being lost.
• The ministry ensures its mission is explicitly tied to the Christian faith so that, even when there are secular charities with similar missions, the distinctiveness of the Christian mission is readily apparent.
• The ministry’s leaders think theologically and follow the Spirit, knowing that God sometimes gives his ministries a vision so large that only God can fulfil it.
• The ministry uses Christian spiritual practices, including group spirituality, to integrate faith and work.
• The ministry models life in the kingdom through righteous behaviour, a servant’s heart, and a community spirit.

CCCC will consider that its purpose and its vision have been fulfilled to the glory of God when every Canadian Christian organization is an exemplary, healthy, and effective Christian ministry.

The post Our Purpose & Vision appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

It was agreed that the most important function of the CCCC especially in its initial stages, will be the preparation, publication and dissemination of a bulletin to be produced on a periodic basis not less than four times in a year and that in addition news flashes of significant developments as relating to charitable organizations will be sent out as appropriate.

An editorial committee was established with the mandate to:

1. Advise on current tax and legislative change as it occurs.
2. Render articles of information, opinion and advice on all relevant aspects.

This reveals some of the thinking that brought CCCC into existence and explains the priorities in programs and services. You can see the thread of this mandate weaving through CCCC programs and services to this day.

Bulletin

Below, you can see the evolution of the CCCC Bulletin over the years.

The first bulletin was published as a newsletter in May 1973 under the name CCCC Educator. This introductory issue focused primarily on planned giving.

In 1982, the CCCC Educator was renamed CCCC News. In this early issue of the CCCC News, you can see that accountability is the top line item, followed by the Federal Budget, and information about communication… at that time, through snail mail via Canada Post. In some ways, things don’t change! We continue to report on the Federal Budget and accountability and transparency remain core CCCC priorities. We don’t spend too much time talking about paper mail anymore, but we do still provide lots of communication-related resources!

The current name for the publication, which has been used since 1985, is the CCCC Bulletin.

The CCCC Bulletin was available online in a flip-book format starting in 2011 and our current, fully digital edition began in March 2022.

Conferences & Webinars

In the fall of 1973, the First Annual Stewardship Seminar was convened in Calgary, Alberta. Total attendance was 76 individuals representing 43 ministries or churches. It was a blessing to gather together, build community, and learn from one another! This conference continued as an annual event until 2016.

In May 1975, the first of what would become the regional seminars was held at the Banfield Memorial Missionary Church in Willowdale, Ontario. The first regional seminar for church treasurers was held in 1981, and in 1985, regional seminars became part of the regular program of CCCC. These seminars were held all across Canada and covered a wide variety of topics.

CCCC recorded its first webinar in 2008 when it converted the regional seminar “Help, I’m a New Treasurer!” into a five-part webinar series.

In 2015-2016, the Regional Seminars were replaced by webinars and by CCCC staff participating in association and denominational conventions. We’re thankful for the early transition to webinars—it helped position CCCC well to serve and connect with members during pandemic restrictions in 2020.

Group Benefits & Pension

In 1977, the employee benefit insurance plan was launched with five employers becoming participating employers in the group. As of today, the group benefit plan has over 500 employers with more than 2,400 individuals on the plan!

By 1982, CCCC had enough members to establish a multi-employer registered pension plan in addition to the group benefit plan. Ken Dick, CCCC Board Chair and World Vision Canada executive, completed Ian Stanley’s founding vision for CCCC by implementing the pension plan.

The launch of both the benefit and pension plans was made possible by World Vision Canada, which transferred ownership of its existing employee benefits and pension plans to CCCC. The Baptist General Conference also merged its pension plan into the new CCCC pension plan right at the beginning. This meant both plans became multi-employer plans, giving CCCC member ministries the opportunity to offer benefits to their employees. The group benefit plan was also enhanced that year with the addition of the Overseas Missionary Medicare Plan.

World Vision now has its own plan, but CCCC will always be extremely grateful for their generosity and shared purpose in establishing a multi-employer pension plan to serve ministries small and large.

CCCC’s pension plan is thriving today with more than 100 employers participating (including some denominational offices) and over 1,400 individual members.

Community Trust Fund

The CCCC Community Trust Fund was established in 1994. Since its inception, the Community Trust Fund has provided two main services to benefit our members:

Brokerage facilitation services

Donors who want to give gifts of securities to their favourite CCCC member charities can do this through the CTF. Many charities do not have brokerage accounts because of the complexity and costs involved. The CTF allows CCCC to facilitate those donations. The charity benefits by receiving this type of donation through CCCC, and the donor benefits from the advantageous tax relief associated with these in-kind gifts.

Donor Advised Funds (DAFs)

Donors can set up DAFs through the Community Trust Fund—this allows gifts made in one year to be distributed over a period of time to Canadian registered charities suggested by the donors.

During the past 20 years, the CCCC Community Trust Fund has distributed nearly $16 million in facilitated immediate gifts and more than $7 million in DAF account distributions, with $927,000 currently held for future distribution.

Accreditation

For nearly 40 years, CCCC has offered an Accreditation (formerly Certification and Seal of Accountability) Program to its members. Back in 1982, CCCC decided to launch a program modelled after the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) in the United States. Strong encouragement and generous sharing of time and expertise by ECFA was a significant help in establishing CCCC’s program in Canada.

CCCC member organizations were sent application forms in the fall of 1983. The program formally began on March 1, 1984, with 43 Accredited Charter Members. At that time, the total CCCC constituency consisted of 43 Accredited and 61 Affiliate Members.

The two-tier membership was designed to make a clear distinction between Accredited and Affiliate Members. Accredited Members were able to display the “CCCC Seal of Accountability” to demonstrate that those charities had been carefully assessed by CCCC’s rigorous accreditation process and found to be in compliance with CCCC’s Standards. That included undergoing on-site field reviews by CCCC, an element that was added to the program in 1995.

CCCC’s Standards are regularly reviewed and, when appropriate, modified; however, they remain largely unchanged. The first review, which lasted several years and involved extensive consultation, began in 1989, followed by reviews in 1996, 2005, 2017, and 2021.

The Standards encompass Christian ministry, diligent governance, ethical fundraising, financial oversight and transparency, and organizational integrity.

Travel

In 1985, CCCC was approached to take over the administration of a group purchasing program operating under the name Agape Travel. The initial expression of interest proved to be far greater than the realized enrollment in this program. The Agape Travel service to members was therefore terminated on March 31, 1987.

You might be wondering … Why include a now-defunct program that only lasted two years? CCCC knows that not every initiative becomes a resounding success. Sometimes even when we plan, pray, and prepare a program truly believing it is the path to follow it doesn’t work out. And that’s ok! There is great value in learning from these experiences and knowing that we are not alone in the ups and downs of charitable work.

Charities Handbook

In 1987, CCCC published its first book, the Charities Handbook. The book was written by Ron Knechtel and was an expansion of the Guide for Church Treasurers, which he had written for the church treasurers seminars. Since Ron was a partner with Clarkson Gordon at the time, CCCC entered into an agreement with Clarkson Gordon to license Ron’s content. Ron joined the CCCC staff in 1992.

Here’s a visual evolution of the Charities Handbook:

The precursor to the Charities Handbook

1989 (Note: This French version was made possible by a federal government grant)

1999

2006

2008

2012

2014

2016

The Charities Handbook has been a core CCCC publication since its first publication. Now all of its content is available in digital (and searchable!) form through the CCCC Knowledge Base. It is continually updated to reflect changing rules, new topics, and your feedback!

The Green

Launched in the onset of COVID-19-related closures, lockdowns, and uncertainty, The Green is an online community for CCCC members to share and learn. It brings ministry team members together for broad-ranging online collaboration, communication, and growth. With thousands of users and posts, you are sure to find a topic or a conversation that is of interest to you!

HR Programs

Recognizing a common need after receiving many calls from members regarding what to pay their employees, the CCCC Compensation Survey went live in May 2011. Unlike other compensation surveys that collect data and publish an annual report, this one is a “living document”. Every time a member joins the survey and shares their information, it updates the survey, and all members have access to the latest results. From the start, the survey has gathered input from members across Canada and has helped shape the compensation landscape for Christian charities. It exists to help ministries be good stewards of their people.

Christian Charity Jobs, the CCCC job board, was launched in November 2017. Since that time there has been steady growth, and CCCC is happy to provide a space for Christian ministries to find the right candidates that meet their unique needs. In a society where churches are at risk of negative attention and challenges, we have created a place where everyone involved in the recruitment process feels safe and welcome.

The HR Consulting program is where CCCC comes alongside charities to help them navigate complex human resources situations that they do not feel able to handle themselves. This program saw a slow start when it was first introduced in 2015 and didn’t really take off until late 2020. Now, it is most often used to help members create and edit policies that shape how they work and take care of the people that serve them.

More to Come!

Be sure to read the update “What’s Next for CCCC Members” on our 50th Anniversary page for a sneak peek at what’s coming!

The post Our Programs appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

On October 12, 1972, the seven founding board members agreed to establish a body that would serve Christian ministries and churches with information and training in administration, fundraising and the managing of other resources.

The name chosen for this ministry was Canadian Council of Christian Charities. The minutes of the inaugural meeting listed the following as the goals for the new organization:

1. Conducting of Christian stewardship seminars across Canada for charitable organizations.
2. Disseminate information relevant to member organizations.
3. Act as a voice in Ottawa and provincial capitals providing guidelines in formulating new legislation.
4. Provide or act as a catalyst in providing courses for development of stewardship representatives at college or university levels.
5. Conducting of local church seminars on Christian stewardship.

It was decided that the constituent members to be served by CCCC should be Christian organizations but without excluding secular organizations. It was recognized that “much of the material which will be produced by CCCC will be relevant to all organizations in the charitable field whether Christian or secular.”

Membership would begin for the calendar year 1973. The fee was set at $100.00 per annum.

For the calendar year 1976, the annual membership fee was raised to $125. Membership had increased to 73 organizations. It was in this year that serious discussion began about hiring a full-time executive director, though it did not actually happen until 1984.

Always looking for meaningful ways to serve members, in 1982 CCCC decided to offer an accreditation program for Christian ministries, along the lines of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) in the United States. Information and application forms were sent to CCCC members in fall of 1983, and in March 1984 the program formally began, with 43 Certified members. Today, nearly 200 CCCC members are Accredited!

Overall membership significantly and consistently grew in subsequent years. In the decade between 1988 and 1998, membership grew from 229 to 1201 charities! Five years later, membership had again grown, almost doubling from 1201 to 2230 member charities.

To support as many charities as possible, membership fees are carefully and thoughtfully set. In 2009, most members paid a fee of $180, which is equivalent to $39 in 1973… so the real cost of CCCC membership actually dropped significantly over the span of 36 years!

Today CCCC has over 3,200 members representing ministries across Canada. Two-thirds of our members are local churches; the rest are denominational offices and every kind of specialized ministry you can imagine: education, evangelism, relief and development, camps, youth, inner-city, and more! Member charities are doing an immense range of good work. The Accredited members have self-reported doing work in the following areas (and this is not an exhaustive list):

We know that it takes a lot to run these ministries well: good leadership, fundraising, governance, HR, finance, and more! CCCC is here to support members with ongoing knowledge, training, and services in these areas so ministry staff can spend more time doing what God has called them to do.

We are so grateful for our partnership with members and it’s our joy to support you in your ministry!

The post Our Members appeared first on CCCC Blogs.

Ian Stanley had the original idea of creating a new organization. He had been invited to share World Vision Canada’s expertise in fundraising with Christian ministries at a meeting held in Ottawa. Not only was his own workshop full, but all the handouts were snapped up by those who attended other workshops.

Thus, stewardship was the original ‘demand’ that CCCC was created to satisfy.

However, Ian’s concern was the plight of overseas missionaries on retirement. After serving for their entire careers, many were left with no financial resources to see them through their old age. Ian wanted missionaries to have access to a pension plan and thought that CCCC would someday be able to administer one.

Ian came home from Ottawa and recruited six of his friends to create the original board of a new organization. The seven individuals who met (in their personal, rather than organizational, capacities) on October 12th were:

• Ian J. Stanley, Director of Stewardship at World Vision Canada (Toronto);
• Albert Edgar, Manager of Estate Planning at Montreal Trust Company (Winnipeg);
• J.A. Lennox Brown, a lawyer in public practice (Toronto);
• Melvin L. Steinmann, Executive Director of Stewardship at Ontario Bible College (Toronto);
• Menno Dirks, Assistant to the President/Stewardship at the Christian and Missionary Alliance (Saskatchewan);
• Miriam Kenyon, a lawyer in the Stewardship Services Department of Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada (Calgary); and
• Lindsay J. Neilson, Director of Administration at Youth for Christ, Toronto (Toronto).

On that day, they agreed to establish a body that would serve Christian ministries and churches with information and training in administration, fundraising, and the managing of other resources.

Ian faithfully served as CCCC Board Chair from 1972-1979, when Ken Dick, who was a Vice President at World Vision Canada, succeeded Ian as chair of the CCCC working board and was instrumental in growing CCCC. Ken oversaw the creation of the CCCC Certification program and introduced the predecessor of our Member Support Team: members could mail their questions to the board and receive a response by mail.

Fast-forward to 1983, and that’s when Frank Luellau was appointed executive director … to a maximum of three days per week at $100 per day, and “to be reviewed at the next board meeting.” He started on September 1 and became the first full-time employee effective January 1, 1984.

With Frank’s appointment, CCCC opened its first office at 354 Charles Street East, Kitchener, Ontario. A year later, the office relocated to Elmira, Ontario. (Find out why Elmira of all places!)

Over the next 10 years, more roles were added to CCCC staff, including an Administrative Assistant and two forerunners of our Member Support Team (MST) who answered member questions. By 1995, CCCC Seal of Financial Accountability program (now Accreditation) had its own manager, followed shortly by a manager for CCCC stewardship services (now CCCC Community Trust Fund) in 1998.

After 17 years of employment, Frank Luellau gave three year’s notice of his intention to retire December 31, 2003, at age 65. This launched the board into a three-year transition process that resulted in John Pellowe being hired September 15, 2003. Frank retired after 20 years of service and John Pellowe became CCCC’s second CEO November 1, 2003.

In subsequent years, additional dedicated staff were hired to effectively manage the expanding programs and services and meet members’ needs.

But for CCCC staff, it’s so much more than just meeting or even anticipating needs. It’s about fulfilling a God-given calling to integrate faith and work for the service of the Christian ministry community.

There have been many invaluable staff members over the years who have contributed their time, skills and passion to growing CCCC and serving members. Today our team includes 21 full-time employees, with expertise in finance, accounting, human resources, administration, information technology, law, governance, operations, marketing, education, knowledge management, and leadership all of which are approached from a faith-filled perspective.

Staff have specific aspirations for CCCC, which are to:

• Promote Christian unity between ministries as a witness to the presence in this world of the love of God;
• Facilitate ministry; champion, support and promote Christian ministries, enabling them to be all that God has called them to be;
• Be a catalyst for continuous improvement and adoption of best practices so that Christian ministries are worthy of public respect and trust;
• Provide accessible, practical, and relevant services that offer high value to our members;
• Be respected educators who create, source, and share expert knowledge as we model how Christian charities should operate; and
• Be an exemplary Christian workplace

God has been good and His timing perfect, bringing many talented and committed team members to CCCC for specific seasons, purposes and times. CCCC is excited to see whom God is preparing even now to join CCCC as we grow into the future.

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