CViC (Churches Volunteering in Communities) is a registered charitable trust whose goal is to encourage and empower churches to mobilise volunteers to engage with, and serve alongside, their community.

The Trust believes that every church that is successfully serving has someone who is passionate about connecting church and community. Therefore it has developed a six-module, two-year course aimed at training and mentoring volunteers to be what it calls ‘Community Links’, with the support of the volunteers’ home churches.

Community Link training course
CViC recently announced the dates and sessions of the training course, which will commence in Auckland but eventually will be rolled out to other regions. The first module ‘Making a Start’ is on Friday 4 May 2012, followed by Module 2 ‘Engaging Your Community’ the following day. At the time of writing a venue has not been confirmed.

It is not a problem if you cannot attend Module 1 on that day, as the first module is repeated the day before Modules 2 to 6, and candidates can join the course at any point in the cycle. However, to complete the course, all six modules must be undertaken.

Scratch ‘n Sniff
Want to know more? CViC is offering some ‘Scratch ‘n Sniff’ events in Auckland in March, to provide overview of the course. They will include live interviews with practitioners and some practical skills training as well, to make the investment of time really worthwhile. These will be held:

• Thursday 15 March 2012, 7-9:30pm – St. Chads Church, 38 St. John’s Rd, Meadowbank
• Thursday 22 March 2012, 7-9:30pm – Northcote Baptist Church, 67 Eban Ave, Glenfield
• Saturday 31 March 2012, 2-4:30pm – Westgate Baptist Church, 63 Hobsonville Road, Massey

Please RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you will be attending.

For more information about the training course go to www.cvic.org.nz or contact Howard Webb Ph 09 360 5665, Mobile 021 832 390 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .