Salim Munayer has been a respected peacemaker in the Middle East for decades; you can meet him next week.
The Peace and Reconciliation Network (PRN) is hosting Dr. Salim Munayer during an Advent tour of southern BC – The Journey of Peace.
He will be speaking at several locations in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley December 3 – 7.
PRN organizers note:
As an Israeli citizen, and a Palestinian Christian with 30 years of experience in reconciliation work in the Middle East, Salim’s perspectives and lived experience will invite us to think, pray and respond with Christ’s love and care in the face of injustice and turmoil.
Munayer founded Musalaha (‘reconciliation’ in Arabic) in 1990 – a Jerusalem-based organization promoting, teaching and facilitating reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, based on the life and teaching of Jesus. He served as Director for more than 30 years and continues as Senior Consultant.
He is now Regional Hub Coordinator of the Middle East and North Africa region for the PRN, which is part of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). He has taught at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bethlehem Bible College, as well as Fuller Theological Seminary and Pepperdine University,.
During a Lausanne Movement interview earlier this year, Munayer spoke about how deeply the feelings of mistrust are embedded, on all sides, even though there is often considerable interaction between various groups.
His family members were refugees in their own town. Growing up in an Orthodox Christian home, he attended a Christian school with mainly Muslim students, then a Jewish high school.
He described how a high school teacher spoke about the Israeli takeover of the land, and his own visceral response:
The teacher said, you see, this land was desert. And we, the Jews, came, turned the desert into a garden. And those Palestinians are no Palestinian people, just people who came from the neighbourhing countries because we brought economic prosperity.
. . . I said to the teacher, uh, please look out the window of the classroom. You see that building over there? This is a church. My great-grandfather built it. You see the orange groves all around the airport. . . . A lot of it used to belong to my family. Matter of fact, the high school was built on our land and my great-grandparents were very well-to-do people. They used to export the famous Jaffa orange.
So you have the clash of historical narrative, and I could not agree – because of my experience, because of what I saw – with the narrative that most of my Jewish friends were studying.
He described grappling with the centrality of reconciliation. He met young Muslims and Jews who were also, with good reason, embittered against the other groups. He was not, initially, drawn to reconciliation himself, but in time he recognized that each group – Jews, Christians and Muslims – were so entrenched in their ways of thinking that their outlooks were skewed.
When he tried bringing Israeli and Palestinian students – all followers of Jesus – together, following the start of the First Intifada in 1987-88, they could not get along. Assuming that might be due to a lack of maturity, he tried it with pastors:
Guess what? The pastors are supposed to be praying, preaching – they were worse than my students. And this is the time I realized that the whole issue of reconciliation needs a proper ministry – thinking, planning.
We need to develop a theology as a practice and to understand why, because for me, the challenge was, and still is, how come the power of God that raised Jesus from death is not more powerful than our ethnic loyalty in a time of conflict and war? We, as Christians, like many people in time of war, we retreat back to our tribal loyalty and we lose our loyalty to who Jesus is, his kingdom, and also for the body.
Munayer was asked, where does hope lie, even in the midst of the current disastrous situation:
Hope lies in Christ; Christ is our hope. God in Christ, loves the world, cares for the world, and God is working in history and through humans.
So God has not left his creation. God is engaging, but the way God is engaging in the world is different than our engagement. God is engaging the world in changing the history, moving the history of the world to a certain destination. God is working through people.
Here are the dates and locations of the Munayer gatherings:
- Dec 3: Dunbar home meeting, Vancouver, 7 pm;
- Dec 4: West Coast Christian Fellowship, Vancouver (for pastors), 10 am;
- Dec 4: Killarney Park MB Church, Vancouver, 7 pm;
- Dec 6: White Rock Community Church (for pastors), 10 am;
- Dec 6: New Life CRC, Abbotsford, 7 pm;
- Dec 7: Gracepoint Community Church, Surrey, 6:30 pm.
Go here to sign up for ‘The Journey of Peace.’ (There may be limits on the size of some groups; sign up soon.)
Christmas fairs & bazaars
Last year I wrote that I was surprised by the number of Christmas fairs (markets, sales, craft events), and wondered whether there were more than usual. Well, I noticed even more this year, so maybe I just wasn’t paying attention.
I’m amazed by the number this Saturday (November 30) alone. Again, Anglicans are leading the way, but there others groups are active too. Here are the ones I’ve found (and added to the Events Calendar) thus far, on that one day alone:
- St. Anne’s, Steveston Christmas Bazaar
- Riverside Christmas Craft Fair, Langley
- St. Dunstan’s Christmas Art Show, Aldergrove
- St. Philip’s Christmas Fair, Vancouver
- St. John the Evangelist Christmas Fair, North Vancouver
- Church of the Holy Trinity, White Rock Christmas Market & Nativity Displays
- Trinity United Christmas Market, Port Coquitlam
- St. Augustine’s Christmas Pop Up Shop, Vancouver
- St. Francis Nifty-Thrifty Shop, West Vancouver
- Christmas Market @ Fairview Church, Vancouver
- Poinsettia Bazaar, All Saints, Ladner
There are also concerts and other gatherings over the weekend and, of course, more Christmas fairs and concerts both before this weekend and throughout December. Go to the Calendar below, or to the Events Calendar to check out upcoming events.
Hockey priest
Fr. David Bauer is a hockey legend, and he had a unique relationship to St. Mark’s College and UBC in general. A new book about him will be celebrated December 5 at St. Mark’s December 5.
Here is the description:
In Hockey Priest: Father David Bauer and the Spirit of the Canadian Game (University of Toronto Press, 2024), Dr. Matt Hoven looks at the remarkable life of a Canadian legend – and also an icon of UBC and St. Mark’s College!
Father Bauer was ordained as a Catholic priest in the Congregation of St. Basil and taught at St. Michael’s College School in Toronto. He was reassigned to St. Mark’s College at UBC in 1961, then coached the UBC Thunderbirds for two seasons and led them to the finals at the 1963 CIAU University Cup.
He established and coached the Canada men’s national ice hockey team program in September 1963 and then transitioned into managing the national team when the program relocated to Winnipeg in 1965, and assembled teams that won the bronze medal at the 1966 and 1967 World Championships, and the 1968 Winter Olympics.
He later managed the national team at the 1980 Winter Olympics and remained a board member of Hockey Canada for nearly two decades.
Please come and enjoy the conversation between author of Hockey Priest, Dr. Matt Hoven, and Canuck Clay, Mr. Clay Imoo, as they discuss how Fr. David Bauer brought together his Catholic life and his hockey life here at St. Mark’s College and around the world.
I have written about Fr. David Bauer here.
Events & Jobs
Events are listed below, but there is also an Events page and a Jobs page on the Church for Vancouver site.
Nov 2024
Conclave – November 21, 2024 - November 28, 2024 at All Day
1525: Reform & Revolution – November 28, 2024 - February 21, 2025 at 12:00 am
Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas – November 28, 2024 - December 24, 2024 at All Day
The Hobbit – November 28, 2024 - December 21, 2024 at All Day
Scholars in the Square: Gary Kuchar - Defiant Loyalism: The Literature of ‘Anglican’ Survivalism – November 28, 2024 at 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Chanting in the Footsteps of St Demetrios in Late Medieval Thessaloniki – November 28, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Joint Church Kitsilano Prayer Meeting – November 28, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Yuletide: An Enchanting Evening of Christmas Cheer – November 28, 2024 - November 30, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Voices from the African Diaspora – November 28, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Christmas Craft Sale & Lunch – November 29, 2024 at 10:30 am - 2:00 pm
Congregations That Make a Difference in their Community: The Halo Effect – November 29, 2024 at 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm
TWU Faculty Speaker Series: Bridging the Arts & Sciences – November 29, 2024 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Advent Festival – November 29, 2024 - November 30, 2024 at 6:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Illuminate Gala – November 29, 2024 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
2024 Music of Hope Christmas Concert 希望的音符圣诞音乐会 – November 29, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
CONVERGE: A Joint Young Adult Event – November 29, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Music Night with the Burnaby Mountain Boys – November 29, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Worship in the City – November 29, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Orchestra & Band Concert: Joyful Journeys – November 29, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations Retreat 2024 – November 30, 2024 at 9:00 am - 2:30 pm
Christmas Bazaar – November 30, 2024 at 9:30 am - 2:00 pm
2024 Riverside Christmas Craft Fair – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Christmas Art Show – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Christmas Fair – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Christmas Fair & Bake Sale – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Christmas Fair & Nativity Scene Display – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Christmas Market – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Christmas Pop Up Shop – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
St. Francis Nifty-Thrifty Shop – November 30, 2024 at 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Christmas Market @ Fairview Church – November 30, 2024 at 10:30 am - 3:30 pm
2024 Lighthouse Advent Luncheon – November 30, 2024 at 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
A Southern Gospel Christmas – November 30, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pmDec 2024
Christmas Jazz Vespers with Jazz Connexion – December 1, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Christmas Recital: Father Peter Hanna – December 1, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Vancouver Oratorio Society 2024 Christmas Concert – December 1, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Dr. Salim Munayer: The Journey of Peace – December 3, 2024 - December 7, 2024 at 12:00 am
Advent in Your Neighbourhood Webinar – December 3, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
A Christmas Carol (5 shows) – December 4, 2024 - December 15, 2024 at All Day
Hope in the City Breakfast – December 4, 2024 at 7:30 am - 9:00 am
Dr. Salim Munayer: The Journey of Peace – Pastors Coffee Circle – December 4, 2024 at 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Sound of the City: A Christmas Concert for the Good of Vancouver (2 shows) – December 4, 2024 at 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Dr. Salim Munayer: The Journey of Peace – December 4, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Jazz Evensong @ Brentwood: The Mennonite Jazz Committee – December 4, 2024 at 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
A Christmas Carol – December 5, 2024 - December 8, 2024 at All Day
for KING + COUNTRY’s A Drummer Boy Christmas – December 5, 2024 at 12:00 am
Canadian Council of Churches: Celebrating 80 Years of Unity & Diversity – December 5, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Hockey Priest and the Story of Father David Bauer – December 5, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Christian Book & Music Fair – December 6, 2024 - December 8, 2024 at All Day
City Dream Centre Christmas Project 2024: Volunteer Opportunities – December 6, 2024 - December 17, 2024 at All Day
Singing Christmas Tree (10 shows) – December 6, 2024 - December 15, 2024 at All Day
Dr. Salim Munayer: The Journey of Peace – Pastors Coffee Circle – December 6, 2024 at 10:00 am - 11:30 am
The First Christmas Experience – December 6, 2024 - December 8, 2024 at 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Joyful Voice Community Choir: Winter Reflections Choral Concert – December 6, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
The Salvation Army Surrey: Traditional Christian Christmas Event – December 7, 2024 at 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Christmas Bazaar & High Tea – December 7, 2024 at 11:00 am - 2:30 pm
Christmas Market – December 7, 2024 at 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
O Holy Night a Coastal Church Christmas Production – December 7, 2024 at 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Tale of a Shepherd: A Musical Christmas Production for Everyone! – December 7, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
O Holy Night a Coastal Church Christmas Production – December 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Dr. Salim Munayer: The Journey of Peace – December 7, 2024 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
The Interruption: God With Us (4 shows) – December 7, 2024 - December 15, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Amabilis Singers present With a Voice of Singing – December 7, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Chantez Noel – December 8, 2024 at 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Christmas at the Chan – December 8, 2024 at 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Paul Baloche Christmas Worship Tour – December 9, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Joyful Voice Community Choir: Winter Reflections Choral Concert – December 9, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Speed Dating: Christian Singles (Ages 31-42) – December 12, 2024 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Hope Alight: Carols by Candlelight (2 events) – December 13, 2024 - December 14, 2024 at All Day
Dustin Bentall & The Blue Wranglers – December 13, 2024 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
North Shore Community Christmas Dinner (volunteers needed before event) – December 14, 2024 at All Day
Keith Miller: Contemporary Challenges to the Pursuit of Truth – December 14, 2024 at 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Bez Christmas Open House – December 14, 2024 at 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Blue Christmas Retreat – December 14, 2024 at 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Night of the Father’s Love – December 14, 2024 at 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Vivaldi Chamber Choir: A Classical Christmas – December 14, 2024 at 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Laudate Singers' Free Family Christmas Concert – December 14, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Christmas Market – December 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Home For Christmas 2024, with Brian Doerksen & Friends – December 14, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Good Tidings! A Good Noise Gospel Christmas – December 14, 2024 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Christmas Presence 2024 (seven shows) – December 15, 2024 - December 23, 2024 at All Day
Merry & Bright: a Sea to Sky Wind Ensemble charity concert – December 15, 2024 at 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Christmas Candlelight – December 15, 2024 at 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Christmas Tales, featuring Bez Gospel Choir – December 15, 2024 at 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Home Alone 2 – December 15, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Night of the Father’s Love – December 15, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Sing-Along Messiah with United Voices Choir – December 15, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Voices of Gratitude: Celebrating Rupert Lang's Ministry at Christ Church Cathedral – December 15, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Good Tidings! A Good Noise Gospel Christmas – December 16, 2024 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Blue Christmas – December 19, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Christmas Tales, featuring Bez Gospel Choir (2 shows) – December 20, 2024 - December 21, 2024 at All Day
West Coast Symphony: A Winter's Eve – December 20, 2024 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Vancouver Cantata Singers: The 21st Christmas Reprise at Holy Rosary Cathedral – December 21, 2024 at 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Vancouver Cantata Singers: The 21st Christmas Reprise at Sanctuary on 6th – December 21, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Early Music Vancouver: Festive Cantatas: Bach & Zelenka – Vancouver – December 22, 2024 at 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Juste Chanter Gospel Choir: Christmas Gospel Choir – December 22, 2024 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service – December 24, 2024 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Worship Invasion New Years Eve Praise Party! – December 31, 2024 at 9:00 pm - 11:45 pm