Around Town: Andy Crouch, Stephen Toope, SALTS' royal guests . . .

Andy Crouch says we are called to be cultivators and creators, adding to culture.

Andy Crouch wrote Culture Making in 2008 and it has turned out to be one of those books – like Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind – that made Christians sit up and take stock of their social, intellectual and cultural shortcomings.

Crouch will be here next week (October 5) as a guest of Surrey Christian School and Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church, to address some of the issues he raised in his book.

Charlene Kwiatkowski interviewed Crouch in advance of his visit to Regent College in 2014. She asked him: “What is the vision you set out for Christians in Culture Making?

Crouch responded:

Basically, what I say is that we’ve spent the last hundred years (at least in the US context) condemning, critiquing, copying and then consuming culture. None of these is an adequate vision.

Instead, we’re meant to be cultivators: people who keep, preserve and care for what is good in the world. And then to the extent that culture is broken and there are things missing, we are also called to be creators and add to culture, because ultimately the only way to change culture is to make more culture.

You don’t change it when you just condemn it or critique it, or when you copy or consume it. But if you cultivate it, then you acquire both the skills and the legitimacy to say, “I think something’s missing here” and offer a creative response to what’s missing.

I think that’s what all human beings are meant to be and what all Christians should embrace as their calling.

Culture Making will take place October 5, 6:30 pm, at Fleetwood Church.

Stephen Toope: On to Cambridge

Stephen Toope was president of UBC several years ago; he is now slated to lead the University of Cambridge.

Stephen Toope was president of UBC several years ago; he is now slated to lead Cambridge University.

Stephen Toope, a former president of UBC, and currently director of the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, is set to become the next leader of Cambridge University. He is the first non-British person to be nominated as vice-chancellor.

Cambridge News said September 26:

Prof Toope is a scholar specialising in human rights, international dispute resolution, international environmental law, the use of force and international legal theory with degrees in common law.

He completed his PhD at Trinity [College Cambridge] in 1987, after graduating from Harvard with a degree in history and literature. He has published articles and books on change in international law, and the origins of international obligation in international society.

Toope spoke at length about the significance of his Anglican faith on the Anglican Church of Canada website (posted March 2, 2015).

(Speaking of Anglican UBC presidents: Santa Ono is the new president of UBC. He is ubiquitous around campus and seems to be very popular. I particularly like the picture of him onstage at the Chan Centre September 9 on Chapel Vancouver’s website, accompanied by this comment: “Remember that time the President of UBC prayed for us to go and make disciples?”)

SALTS hosts William and Kate

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be sailing on a tall ship with SALTS (Sail and Life Training Society) this weekend. The group describes the event in this way:

SALTS is pleased to be hosting Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for a sailing aboard our tall ship the Pacific Grace on Saturday, October 1.

Pacific Grace is a replica of the Robertson II, the original SALTS schooner which was from the same Grand Banks fishing fleet as the famed Bluenose schooner that is featured on the Canadian dime.

SALTS hosted His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh aboard the Robertson II in 1987 (and sold the ship in 2003 after building her replica, Pacific Grace).

SALTS, a Christian organization, operates two tall ships, the Pacific Grace and Pacific Swift, and offers sail training to young people ages 13 – 25 (as well as day sails for all ages). Each year, 1,700 young people learn to sail a tall ship with SALTS.

Voyages take them to the Gulf Islands each spring and fall, and in the summer the ships circumnavigate Vancouver Island. Periodically, SALTS conducts an offshore voyage to ports around the world.

Briefly noted

Ravi Zacharias sessions online

Unfortunately I missed Ravi Zacharias when he was at Westside Church earlier this month. The good news is that all five sessions from Jesus Life & World Religions are now online.

Each of the sessions by the world renowned apologist is 40-plus minutes; I have seen half of one and am looking forward to going through them all.

Pacific Theatre: A Good Way Out, Ian Farthing

The reviews for Pacific Theatre’s A Good Way Out are in, and they’re all good – at least all the ones listed on Soul Food Vancouver! Definitely a show to see before it’s over October 15. And PT board member Ian Farthing is directing The Concierge of Vancouver, “the world premier of a comedy about the Vancouver housing crisis” (October 7 – 16).

Peter Chattaway on VIFF

Our local film expert Peter Chattaway pointed out on his FilmChat blog that he has been going to the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) for 23 years, ever since he was an editor at a UBC student paper. He offers a rundown of films that interest him, in three lists, one of which is films with a religious or spiritual angle.

Chattaway adds:

I have to mention that my friend Nathan Douglas has a short film, Cave of Sighs, in the Let’s Compare Mythologies (Oct 2, 9) anthology. The one-sentence synopsis, as per the program: “A casual hook-up’s path to the bedroom is obstructed by a collection of Byzantine icons and the conversations they inspire.”

Sep 2016

Verge Conference 2016: Arts & the Inklings – September 28, 2016 - September 30, 2016 at All Day
Call for Artists: 'Living on Shared Territory' Art Show – September 29, 2016 - October 2, 2016 at All Day
Bishop Melissa Skelton: The Spirituality of Benedict of Nursia – September 29, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Enoch Daniel: Personal Knowledge, Music & Truth – September 29, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Journeying Towards Climate Justice: An Evening of Prayer – September 29, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Moriel Ministries Canada: Prophecy Conference 2016 – September 30, 2016 - October 1, 2016 at 6:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Discovery Bible Study Training – September 30, 2016 - October 1, 2016 at 6:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Life in the Margins Workshop – September 30, 2016 - October 1, 2016 at 6:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Andrew Smith & Neil Fraser – September 30, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Chapel North Shore – September 30, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Chapel Richmond-Delta – September 30, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Chapel Surrey – September 30, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Chapel Tri-Cities – September 30, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Chapel Vancouver – September 30, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Lydia Collins: Seasons of Renewal – September 30, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Two Generations Leadership Conference: Honouring Your Parents - God's Word, Cultural Heritage and Christian Community – September 30, 2016 - October 1, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Chapel Langley – September 30, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Oct 2016

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Around Town: Andy Crouch, Stephen Toope, SALTS’ royal guests . . .

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