Around Town: Complete Champions, All is Bright, First Baptist, Christmas Fairs

Cyclist Alison Jackson will be featured along with Rick Hansen at the Complete Champions Reception for TWU Spartan sport teams.

Two top-flight athletes will headline the Complete Champions Reception this Friday (November 24).

Alison Jackson and Rick Hansen will address those gathered at the annual event to support the Trinity Western University (TWU) Spartans, the athletic teams that represent the school.

Alison Jackson, a TWU Spartans track and field grad herself in 2015, shifted to cycling, becoming an Olympic Team Canada member.

Earlier this year she won the Paris-Roubaix road race, which a Cyclist magazine writer described as “The best race in cycling . . . over time Paris-Roubaix has come to adopt monikers like the ‘Queen of the Classics’ and ‘Hell of the North,’ and remains one of the most prestigious victories to take in pro bike racing.”

Rick Hansen really needs no introduction. The ‘Man-in-Motion’ is well known as the Paralympian who wheel-chaired his way around the world in the 1980s. He has been a community leader in removing barriers and creating access for people with disabilities.

The pair will be featured at the 15th annual Complete Champions Reception, a networking event for the business community which also raises funds for the Spartans. The mission of the Spartan Foundation: “To invest in student-athletes today; which will help develop Complete Champions and leaders for tomorrow; all with the purpose to further God’s Kingdom.”

The women’s soccer team placed second in the nation this year. Photo: TWU Spartans

The TWU Spartans are now represented in at least eight sports with U Sports, the national governing body of university sport in Canada. They are particularly strong in soccer and volleyball.

The women’s team lost out to UBC in the national championship match November 12, having beaten them in the western finals just a few weeks earlier. An article in The Province noted: “It was the eighth national title for the T-Birds. That’s the most of any women’s soccer program in the country. Trinity Western is next best, with five.”

The men’s team won 2023 U Sports Men’s Volleyball Championship this spring, for the seventh time, while the top-seeded women’s team finished second (again to UBC, again having beaten them in the western finals).

The Spartans Men’s Rugby team hosted the 2023 Men’s Rugby Championship November 15 – 19, placing fifth in the end.

Keep in mind that TWU’s student population is about 5,000, while many of their opponents draw from tens of thousands of students.

Over the past 14 years, the Spartan Foundation has raised $4.85 million, with the annual sums rising significantly over the years (more than $800,000 each of the past couple of years).

All is Bright

“We are for this city!” Southside Church really does seem to care about its neighbours in Chilliwack, especially during the Christmas season, but throughout the rest of the year as well.

This year, their All is Bright campaign will raise $350,000 “to make our city brighter”:

NO single parent should struggle to provide Christmas food for their family. NO child should wake up Christmas morning without a gift.

And we’re going to do all we can to help.

This year’s All is Bright will be our biggest in Southside history. We’re bringing Christmas to more people than we ever have before – THOUSANDS of families, over a THOUSAND volunteers… and $350,000!

This huge community project will be fully-funded and fully-manned through Southside Church! We’re inviting everyone to give, invite, serve and send this link to someone who may need it, in order to make this our BRIGHTEST year yet.

A 2020 article in The Chilliwack Progress noted that the church had already been running All is Bright for four years. Last year, volunteers distributed $278,000 worth of gifts to their neighbours.

Southside carries on its work throughout the year:

We are For This City! We have partnered with some incredible local partners to provide people with tangible help when they need it most. Southside is committed to supporting our local partners all year to bring help and hope to people.

- Local Food Banks and Families in Need: We completely restocked the shelves of our local food banks: $250,000 through our ‘Food For This City’ initiative this year! We also connect families to community and mental health support and provide ongoing prayer support throughout the year.
- Cherish Women’s Resource Centre: Southside stocks the shelves of the drop-in with diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, strollers and more!
- Chilliwack Hospital Maternity and Abbotsford Hospital Maternity and NICU: Receive fully stocked diaper bags filled with items for both mom and baby.
- Abbotsford Hospital Oncology: Sunshine Boxes are delivered to the unit with hundreds of dollars worth of gas and food gift cards to support kids and their families impacted by cancer and critical illness.
- Sardis Doorway and When Love Hurts Programs: Food and toiletries are delivered to moms throughout the program as they work hard to heal and grow.
- Sts’Ailes Community School: We continue to provide school supplies, backpacks and food to support the Lunch and Backpack programs.

First Baptist accident

The accident was being reported just as I was competing this week’s update (the evening of November 22), but preliminary reports indicate that three men who fell from scaffolding at the First Baptist Church / The Butterfly site are going to be okay.

CityNews stated:

Officials say three people have been taken to the hospital after they were rescued from the third floor of a downtown Vancouver construction site Wednesday morning.

The incident was initially described by officials as being a scaffolding collapse in the area of Nelson and Burrard streets, however was later confirmed that a chimney at the historic First Baptist Church crumbled.

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services Assistant Chief Jarret Grey says one person was partially trapped by rubble that fell from the building around 11 am. . . .

In a statement to CityNews just after 3:30 pm, Haebler Construction says the incident happened at the church next to the Butterfly Tower while they were undertaking renovations and seismic upgrade work.

“A chimney collapsed, injuring three construction workers. Firefighters and emergency personnel were quick to respond and all other workers were accounted for,” it said.

Go here for the full article.

The Butterfly was already dominating the skyline this spring. It should be completed early next year.

First Baptist describes its Heart for the City project like this:

The proposed development will expand the community services the Church provides with approximately 45,000 square feet of additional purpose-built space and a new affordable rental building of approximately 50,000 square feet.

The Church’s heritage restoration, the expansion of our space for various ministries, and the addition of a new affordable rental building will be constructed by Westbank.

As part of our agreement, Westbank will also be constructing a market residential tower known as the Butterfly.

In a September 25 update, Executive Pastor Justin Kim wrote:

Our congregation has gathered, worshipped, prayed and served in 27 locations for the past two years and five months. Despite the challenges associated with relocations, adjustments and readjustments, God’s grace has been deeply evident in the resilience of our congregation.

Kim said in a September 7 update that the congregation hopes to be back in the church building by March 2024, though he added:

[W]e need to hold that estimated completion date loosely, as numerous schedule changes during the project have taught us that one of the only certainties when it comes to construction is that the timing is uncertain – which is one reason why we rest in the comfort that the Lord is leading First Baptist through the Heart For The City project, as His timing is always best.

I have posted several earlier stories about the redevelopment.

Christmas fairs & markets

The All Handmade Sale will be at Grandview Church.

It’s still November, but the number of churches featuring Christmas fairs (markets, sales, craft events) surprises me. Are there more than usual this year?

Here are the ones I’ve noticed just this weekend (!), and have listed on my Events Calendar. All will be this Saturday (November 25) except for the first (24 – 26) and last (29):

Christmas Book & Gift Fair, South Delta Baptist
Christmas Bazaar, Trinity United Church, Port Coquitlam
Christmas Craft Fair, Riverside Calvary Chapel, Langley
The All Handmade Sale, Grandview Calvary Church, Vancouver
Burnaby Christmas Night Market, Cariboo Hill Temple, Burnaby
Christmas Artisan Fair, Regent College, Vancouver

There are also concerts over the weekend and, of course, more Christmas fairs and concerts the following weekend. Go to the Calendar below for November events, or to the Events Calendar to check out the December happenings as well.

Nov 2023

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