Around Town: Limits remain, Catholics pledge $2.5 million, Tetsuro Shigematsu

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry revealed during her February 15 health update that while COVID-19 restrictions will be relaxed for most public gatherings, church attendance will remain capped at 50 percent.

Speaking during a live update, Dr. Henry said:

We are going to be allowing again indoor and outdoor organized gatherings, so those are those wedding receptions and parties and celebrations of life that we have had to curtail or put on hold for the past few weeks.

They will, with the mask mandate and BC Vaccine Card, be allowed at full capacity. Because of the amount of immunity that we have and the protection that we get through those, we’ll be able to go to full capacity and no longer have those requirements of remaining at tables.

So that means mingling and dancing, and all of those other important things that we’ve missed will be back. Indoor seated events will go back to full capacity. We had put in that 50 percent capacity at movie theatres and arts events and sports events. That will go back to full capacity, as we were before we hit this Omicron wave.

Fitness centres, adult sports, dance and swimming will also go back to full capacity, and we’ll be removing those restrictions we had on tournaments for adults, now as things are improving and the risk is going down. Importantly, in restaurants and our food and beverage serving orders, restaurants, bars and night clubs will now be allowed to re-open . . .

We do have some protective measures still in place. . . . Along with the masks and the vaccine card, we will be looking at the increasing visitation and looking at the restrictions we have on additional social visits in long-term care, we’ll be working with our school and child care and early childhood education on the reviewing of the guidelines for K-12 and childcare.

We’ll be meeting with faith leaders to review some remaining restrictions we have in faith communities . . .

Dr. Henry said the restrictions were to be lifted at 11:59 pm February 16; the remaining restrictions will be reviewed March 15, and again April 12.

$2.5 million for reconciliation

Archbishop Michael Miller recently said he has been “very moved” by the generosity of local Catholics in the wake of the discovery of unmarked graves at the Tk’emlúps Indian Residential School last spring.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver raised more than $400,000 in a special collection in September, and Miller stated last week that they will raise more.

A recent B.C. Catholic article reported:

The Archdiocese of Vancouver says it will spend $2.5 million over the next five years on healing and reconciliation initiatives with Indigenous communities in B.C.

The archdiocese said Thursday it began receiving grant requests following last year’s announcement that a second collection would be held in support of healing and reconciliation initiatives, with all contributions destined for local projects.

Since then, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops announced it would contribute $30 million over five years to Indigenous healing and reconciliation initiatives.

Barbara Dowding, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Vancouver and former National President of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada (CWL), will serve as one of three members of the corporation overseeing the project along with a board of three Indigenous leaders.

The BC Catholic article added:

Funds will be focused on projects and programs that respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action #60, 61, and 73-76, which called for healing and reconciliation for communities and families, survivor-directed work related to cemetery sites of former residential schools, and language, culture, education, and community support. 

Preach it Tetsuro!

The name Ken Shigematsu is well known around town as senior pastor of the multi-site Tenth Church and as an author.

But Jason Byassee has just written a fascinating article about his brother, Tetsuro Shigematsu, for The Christian Century.

Byassee teaches at Vancouver School of Theology. In ‘How playwright Tetsuro Shigematsu has transformed my homiletics class,’ he wrote:

In my classroom, I have turned to a unique source, the actor and playwright Tetsuro Shigematsu.

Tetsuro’s brother Ken is the senior pastor at Tenth Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, a multisite church in the Alliance tradition, and he introduced me to Tetsuro’s help.

I have found much in what I call “the dictionary of Tetsuro” to address the preaching ills of my homiletics students. Ken apparently agrees with me. He frequently sends staff members to study with Tetsuro, and he calls in his brother to evaluate potential candidates for preaching positions at Tenth – even though Tetsuro is not a preacher or a Christian.

Tetsuro uses a unique vocabulary when he talks to my preaching students: he talks about things like the glass tube, the eruption of the real, the secret, the oasis and the lighthouse. Each term illuminates the preaching vocation in new ways, through the eyes of someone who is a skeptic of the profession.

Go here to learn the secret; it’s an enjoyable read.

Feb 2022

Alpha Webinar: Life on Purpose Launch – February 17, 2022 at 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Human Rights Violations in Canadian Immigration Detention: An Interfaith Call to Action – February 17, 2022 at 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Stacie Swain: Reorienting Politics through Public Expressions of Indigenous Ceremony – February 17, 2022 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Free Little Art Gallery: Grand Opening – February 21, 2022 at 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Alpha Webinar: Making Connections in Moments of Isolation – February 22, 2022 at 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Thomas Fuchs: Theology of the Person – Personhood and Neuroscience – February 23, 2022 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Run Alpha Q & A – February 24, 2022 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Postponed: Sentences & Sentience: C.S. Lewis & the Word, with Dr. Andrew Kaethler – February 24, 2022 at 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Coldest Night of the Year: Vancouver Broadway – February 26, 2022 at All Day
Canadian Religious Freedom Summit 2022 – February 26, 2022 at 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Coldest Night of the Year: Vancouver DTES – February 26, 2022 at 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Mar 2022

Elizabeth Sung: Theology of the Person – Personhood and Race – March 2, 2022 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
COM*PLIC*IT – March 3, 2022 - March 12, 2022 at All Day
Calls to Prayer for Ukraine – March 3, 2022 at 8:00 am - 9:00 am
EFC Resource Reveal: Four New Resources – March 3, 2022 at 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Watershed Moment: Spirituality, Forests and Fresh Water – March 3, 2022 at 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Global Pandemic: Opening Reception – March 3, 2022 at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Postponed: Apologetics Canada Conference 2022 – Branded: Rethinking Identity – March 4, 2022 - March 5, 2022 at All Day
Comagape Christian Conference 2022 – March 5, 2022 at 9:00 am - 6:30 pm
Social Enterprises 101 for Churches – March 5, 2022 at 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Richmond Stands with Ukraine – March 5, 2022 at 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Coming to Peace with Our Pain (6-part Lenten Webinar Series) – March 7, 2022 at 9:30 am - 10:45 am
Awake from Woke: Understanding "Diversity", "Inclusivity", "Equity" and "Social Justice" – March 7, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Protecting Life: Repealing the Death Penalty for Apostasy and Blasphemy – March 8, 2022 at 3:30 am - 5:30 am
Spiritual Care Series Workshop (Tuesday evenings) – March 8, 2022 at 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Carey College Expansion: Review – March 9, 2022 at All Day
Branded: 'Rethinking Identity' Premiere – March 10, 2022 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Creation, Community and Covenant - Learning from Indigenous Wisdom – March 12, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Finding Home: Transformative Places Where Refugee Claimants Flourish – March 15, 2022 at 7:00 am - 8:00 am
Steven Knight: Stations of the Cross Presentation – March 15, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Eleanor McLaughlin: Theology of the Person – The Person and Disability – March 16, 2022 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Prayer for Peace – March 16, 2022 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Religious Dimensions of the War Against Ukraine – March 17, 2022 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Audible – March 18, 2022 at 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Awake from Woke #2 – March 21, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Cancelled: Chris Tomlin & Hillsong United – March 23, 2022 at All Day
Writing on Music, Meaning and the Ineffable – March 24, 2022 at 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
SIMinar: Explore Liberia – March 24, 2022 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Listening to Creation's Call: The Church & Climate Change – March 24, 2022 at 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
The Impact of Technology on Relationships: Should We Worry? – March 24, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Apologetics Canada Leadership Summit – March 25, 2022 - March 27, 2022 at 4:00 pm - 12:00 pm
ARPA Canada: Preparing for Conversion Therapy Bans – March 25, 2022 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Eugene Skovorodnikov: Ukrainian-Canadian pianist aids humanitarian gathering – March 25, 2022 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Kentucky Eileen – March 25, 2022 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
AC Literary Expedition: Prophetic or Pathetic? Exploring Orwell's Warnings to the Future – March 27, 2022 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Reflections on the Possibilities and Impossibilities of Experiencing Home – March 28, 2022 at 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
IRF Webinar | Advocating to Eliminate the Death Penalty – March 29, 2022 at 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Interface Lectures: Niels Henrik Gregersen – Christ in a World of Creativity and Suffering: Deep Incarnation and the Evolution of Biological Agency – March 29, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Jordan Wales: Theology of the Person – Personhood and AI – March 30, 2022 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Interface Lectures: Niels Henrik Gregersen – An Eco-theology of Wondering, Intervening, and Enmeshment: Deep Incarnation and the Three Ecologies – March 30, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Taking Your Soul to Work – March 30, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Taste of Alpha – March 31, 2022 at 9:00 am - 10:15 am
Mark Glanville: Called to this Time – Easter – March 31, 2022 at 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Standing Guard – March 31, 2022 at 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Interface Lectures: Niels Henrik Gregersen – Living in a World of Shocks and Resilience: Towards a Theology of Disasters – March 31, 2022 at 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Lauren Strumos: Notions of Justice Among Activists Opposed to the Trans Mountain Pipeline – March 31, 2022 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Kairos Blanket Exercise – March 31, 2022 at 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm