Around Town: A Neighbourhood Church, A Rocha Barn, Douglas Hambidge . . .

The old Neighbourhood Church building will be missed, but the congregation will continue to serve their local community through the Imagine Edmonds Project. From left: Pastor / Project Director Craig Bosnick, Project Director Mike Gin and Senior Pastor / Executive Director Cam Roxburgh.

Cailey Morgan grew up at The Neighbourhood Church in Burnaby, so she wasn’t sure how to feel about a banquet to mark decades of ministry in the old building as it faced demolition.

Writing in the March issue of Making Connections (a newsletter of the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada) she said:

But I know I’m not alone in my nostalgia. Hundreds and hundreds of people have passed through those doors to pray, to worship, to learn and to play. . . .

According to a 1912 newspaper, the original Edmonds Baptist Church building was erected for about $3,000. . . .

Under the leadership of McCullough, Ernest E. King, Jonathan Wilson, Richard Matiachuk, Cam and Shelley Roxburgh and many others over the years, Christ followers have used that sanctuary to offer hope in southeast Burnaby for more than a century.

So I was at a loss that night – how could we sum up the life of Edmonds Baptist / Southside / The Neighbourhood Church in a three-hour event? How could we possibly narrow down which stories of offering shelter, food, meaning and friendship to share?

Which of the countless moments of God’s faithfulness would shine brightest in our collective mind’s eye? How could our hearts even handle it all? 

But on January 31, as I found my seat at the banquet and gazed into the eyes of old friends across the table, I realized it wasn’t about trying to cram a century into an evening. It was about experiencing the present moment as an opportunity to recentre on our calling as a church from the beginning. . . .

The plan is to build a 50-storey tower with 480 units of housing for families, a 300-seat theatre and a 50,000-square-foot ministry centre for the church and other groups.

On February 11, we inaugurated our interim ministry centre – a former credit union located two blocks from our original campus – with a neighbourhood hot dog dinner.

It already had flashes of feeling like home as we picked up where we’d left off with our weekly community meals. Church was never about the building anyways. It’s about God’s people, together, declaring God’s love and His Kingdom come.  

And the congregation’s work is far from done. They are now entering a years-long transition leading to the Imagine Edmonds project, which will include an art centre, a ministry centre and 480 units of housing.

Last fall I posted an article by Senior Pastor Cam Roxburgh which tells some of the story: “The Neighbourhood Church: from ‘small vision’ to ‘Imagine Edmonds’ project.”

Partnering with The Neighbourhood Church are BC Builds, Gracorp, Journey Home Community, End Homelessness in Burnaby and Burnaby Counselling Group (BCG).

A Rocha barn

A Rocha Canada is part of a worldwide network of A Rocha centres which are “committed to the conservation and restoration of the natural world through both scientific research and practical conservation projects.”

As I noted last spring:

The A Rocha BC Centre [in south Surrey] “is one of the jewels in the crown of A Rocha.”

Ed Walker, who took on the role of Executive Director of A Rocha International in the fall of 2023, said he had heard a lot about the south Surrey property, and read books about it by local authors – but it wasn’t until he drove up the driveway on a rainy day earlier this month that he understood why people find it such a special place.

 A Rocha BC is now seeking support for a new/old project:

The A Rocha environmental centre is always a hive of activity. It is good to see that the Clergy Conference of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster will meet there in early May: “participants will have the opportunity to take part in some hands-on work.”

Douglas Hambidge

Archbishop Douglas Hambidge, 1927 – 2026.

The Most Rev’d Douglas Hambidge, who served as Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster from 1980 to 1993, passed away March 2.

A March 3 memorial on the diocesan site stated:

With sadness, the Diocese of New Westminster shares the news that Archbishop Douglas Hambidge died on March 2, 2026, just days before his 99th birthday.

He was born in London on 6 March 1927,and educated at London University. He served in the armed forces during World War II.

Archbishop Hambidge was ordained in London, England, on September 29, 1953. He came to Cassiar, BC, in 1956 and served as Rector of All Saints Church. He was convinced to stay in BC and served parishes in Smithers and Fort St. John.

In 1965, he became a Canon of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Prince Rupert. In May 1969, the Reverend Douglas Hambidge was consecrated as the seventh Bishop of Caledonia.

As a married man with three children, he brought a new style of ministry to the episcopate in BC. Archbishop Hambidge’s principal innovation in Caledonia was ‘indigenous ministry’ – the licensing of people chosen by their communities to be their priests.

This form of ministry was developed specifically for Caledonia under the influence of the religious customs and practices of local indigenous people.

In 1980, he was elected Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster. In 1981, he became Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon and served in the two roles until he retired in 1993.

Upon retirement, he accepted a volunteer position as principal of St. Mark’s Theological College in Dar Es Salaam, sponsored through the Anglican Volunteers in Mission program of the Anglican Church of Canada.

He returned to BC and the Diocese of New Westminster in the early 2000s and served as an interim priest in charge at various parishes. In 2023, Archbishop Hambidge and his wife, Denise, moved to Calgary.

Archbishop Hambidge was predeceased by his wife, Denise. He is survived by his three children.

Details regarding a memorial service have not yet been confirmed.

John Stephens, the current Archbishop, wrote a separate letter, also March 3, saying:

I knew Archbishop Hambidge from about 1980 onwards as he was often active in the parish in which I grew up.  He loved to be with people and to work closely with the clergy.  He had a strong interest in youth ministry and developing and growing faith in Jesus Christ in all people.

When I was ordained, Douglas continued to be of great support and encouragement to me.  He was interested in my ministry and where the Holy Spirit had been leading me.

He concluded:

Archbishop Hambidge, when writing to me, would often refer to himself as simply #7 (the seventh Bishop of New Westminster) and I would reply as simply #10.  And so from #10 to #7, well done good and faithful servant.