Around Town: Credo Christian, Risk & Failure, Tumbler Ridge pastors unite . . .

Harman Bhangu says church groups “were there for me” as a youth and urges young people to celebrate their Christian faith.

Harman Bhangu was impressed with his recent visit to a Christian school in his district, and made it clear that his comments were more than political.

The Conservative MLA for Langley-Abbotsford wrote on X February 6:

It was an honour to visit Credo Christian School and mark 70 years of Christian Reformed education in British Columbia.

For seven decades, Credo has been sustained by God’s grace and faithfulness, serving generations of families committed to raising their children with a strong foundation in truth, discipline and purpose.

In a short video, he spoke personally as well, to staff and students:

I want to tell you a story of how faith has played in my life  – faith has played a huge part in my life. My parents brought me up being in Canada here, being a Sikh, and honestly, being accepted by the Christian community.

I think right now there’s a picture out there that doesn’t paint the picture that I grew up in. I want to share with you the love and compassion that I received, my family received and how my kids are raised now too.

They go to a Christian school themselves, because I want them to have the faith, the values and the principles that this country was founded on.

I think we should celebrate the Christian faith and everything that comes with the teaching, the education, because it’s the teaching of acceptance. People of all faiths who come here practice their religion, celebrate their religion hand in hand, and learn and build community together. . . .

When I lost my father, it was tough, but faith was there for me, the church groups were there for me. And I want to send you a message – have faith, believe in it, be proud and respect your parents and elders and you mentors, because that is they only reason why I am standing up here today.

I know when you’re younger you want to stray, but I’m telling you, when you get older, you really look back to that Bible and it will save you and it will set you on the right path in life

He ended with, “and here’s to another 70 [years] and many more.”

Risk & Failure

Two local men with decades of experience in the ways of business are offering a webinar next Wednesday {February 18): Reframing Risk and Failure: A Christian Perspective:

Risk and failure shape every entrepreneurial journey – but how should Christian leaders understand them?

In this ELO Leadership Expert Webinar, Paul Stevens and Rick Goossen unpack key insights from their new book, offering a biblically grounded framework for entrepreneurship that integrates faith, courage and long-term purpose.

Rick Goossen is founder of the Entrepreneurial Leaders Organization (ELO), committed to developing meaning-driven leaders who integrate faith, purpose and excellence to build organizations of enduring impact. ELO holds annual forums in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, as well a week-long Oxford Leadership Program.

Paul Stevens is Professor Emeritus in Marketplace Theology at Regent College, and Chairman of the Institute for Marketplace Transformation. He has written widely on everyday life themes and the workplace, including The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, Taking Your Soul to Work (with Alvin Ung), Work Matters, Doing God’s Business – and, most recently, Working Blessedly Forever in three volumes.

Entrepreneurship: A Christian Perspective will be published by Castle Quay in June 2026. All ELO Forum attendees in 2026 will receive a copy, inviting them to reflect on the deeper purpose of entrepreneurship.

Tumbler Ridge pastors unite

Pastor George Rowe was interviewed by CTV and several other media outlets in the wake of the Tumbler Ridge killings.

True, Tumbler Ridge is not ‘around town.’ But it feels very close to home – even world leaders have felt that – and the tragedy there affects us all.

So many local churches, ministries and denominations have sent messages of solidarity and prayer. Some are even offering in-person support.

The BC & Yukon District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, for example, is “sending Jim Caruso, a trained and experienced trauma counsellor, to walk alongside the church and community with compassionate, Christ-centred support.”

It is good to know that Caruso and others supporters from across the nation are offering practical help. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada announced immediately that “Rapid Response Team chaplains are deploying to minister to the grieving community of Tumbler Ridge.”

No doubt they will receive a warm welcome from fellow pastors and counsellors in Tumbler Ridge. Speaking on CTV News Wednesday morning (February 11), George Rowe, Pastor of Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church, said:

We as pastors, we just go in and we be there. We need to listen a lot and sometimes talk little, just to be there, to hear their heart cry and to look into their face and watch their body language. It can be very disturbing emotionally, to the point that you have to be careful yourself as well.

Asked how his church is going to provide support, Rowe said:

The pastors will be meeting today and tomorrow to deal with the possible services, celebrations of life, memorial services and so on. We’ve got help coming in. We’ve had people calling from literally all over the country, and they want to come in and offer counselling services.

We’re making our churches available. Where possible, we’ll be providing some of the tangible things, like food and meals, etc, etc. This coming together helps the community deal with it and cope with it for sure.

In terms of how the youth group in his congregation is dealing the the trauma, he said:

We’re so grateful that so many of our kids got out of there alive, but yet so heartbroken that some of them didn’t make it – and we’re thinking of the 25 that were injured as well. Families are just mourning in their own way. . . .

Rowe concluded:

Our churches are very close here. We have a very close ecumenical program; the ministerial is very strong. So, we’re supporting each other. Every church is together on this one.

Rowe has lived in Tumbler Ridge for decades and his children attended the school where the shooting took place.