Around Town: Jennie Gaglardi Place, ACTS & TWU, Neighbours / Inhabit . . .

Among those on hand for the opening of Jennie Gaglardi Place were Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward (left) and Langley East MLA Megan Dykeman, along with CLA Pastor Derek Hamre and Peter Fassbender, president of the CLA Housing Society and former Langley City mayor.

Provincial and municipal politicians were on hand to cut the ribbon for a new housing development in Langley March 26. The project is named after Christian Life Assembly’s founding pastor, Jennie Gaglardi.

Heather Colpitts wrote about the project for the Langley Advance Times:

The ribbon’s been cut, the first people start to move in in early April, and the tenant applications are right inside the front door at Jennie Gaglardi Place, on the grounds of the Christian Life Assembly Church.

The building, which came in ahead of schedule and under budget, will provide homes for about 150 people in 98 units, explained Peter Fassbender, president of the Christian Life Assembly Housing Society and former Langley City mayor.

“We’re going to have a mix of seniors, young families, single individuals. We’re going to have a diverse community living in this building,” Fassbender said.

He was also on the board that built Aspire, a Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation project to provide seniors rental housing. It officially opened last summer. . . . As as result of both projects, Fassbender is fielding calls from other community groups and churches interested in going into housing.

“We have shown that when community gets together, we can make things happen,” he said. “We need land. Churches have land. I have churches that are calling me now and saying ‘how can we do this’.”

Jennie Gaglardi Place will provide homes for about 150 people in 98 units

Among those taking part in the opening were BC’s Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon, Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward and Langley East MLA Megan Dykeman.

A BC Housing release stated:

Jennie Gaglardi Place at 21201 56 Avenue is a five-storey, wood-framed building with a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes for households with low and moderate incomes.

Additional features include a ground-floor amenity room, kitchen, washroom, storage room and laundry room, as well as exterior dining, seating and play areas. The building has underground and surface parking stalls.

“In the midst of a housing crisis, homes like these will help ensure people can remain in the communities they know and love,” said Megan Dykeman, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits and MLA for Langley East.

“I’m grateful to have such a vital partner in the Township of Langley and the CLA Housing Society, as we develop solutions together to make Langley a more affordable place for all.”

Jennie and Loreen Drury started Christian Life Assembly in the 1930s.

The Langley Advance Times article noted that CLA was keen to remember Jennie Gaglardi’s founding role:

The building name was unveiled in 2022, during a service and celebration held with Gaglardi’s family and the community, to commemorate her founding of the Christian Life Assembly Church in the Township more than 85 years ago.

Jennie and Loreen Drury came to Langley in the 1930s and started the church. Gaglardi’s children and grandchildren were pleased when the housing society chose to name the building after her as she was often overshadowed by her politician husband, Flying Phil Gaglardi.

“Jennie actually started the church, and then her husband took over,” explained CLA Pastor Derrick Hamre, noting she was a trailblazer.

BC Housing pointed out several key facts:

• The Province contributed $10.7 million to the project through the Building BC: Community Housing Fund and will provide an ongoing annual operating subsidy of approximately $772,000.
• The CLA Housing Society contributed the land, valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• The Township of Langley waived approximately $3 million in fees.
• The federal government, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, provided $150,000 in seed funding.

ACTS to join TWU

ACTS Seminaries will transition to a new TWU School of Theology.

Bill Taylor, Chair of the ACTS Seminaries board, announced March 26 that ACTS will transition to a new Trinity Western University School of Theology.

ACTS is a partnership of four denominational seminaries – Canadian Baptist Seminary, MB Seminary, Northwest Seminary and Trinity Western Seminary. It is already based on the TWU campus.

Taylor wrote:

Much has changed in the world and in theological education since ACTS was birthed in 1989. These past few years, the ACTS board has deliberated over what structure will best serve students today and in years to come and ensure the flourishing of their education.

The ACTS board has agreed on a plan that will allow our students to continue to receive quality theological education in a vibrant, sustainable seminary. In short, we plan to ask [the Association of Theological Schools] to move the governance and control of ACTS to TWU and TWU will open a TWU School of Theology.

The ACTS partner seminaries and affiliate schools will continue to serve their denominations and constituencies, providing quality theological education in a variety of forms that may include continued partnership with TWU in some programs.

If things go as planned, TWU will launch the TWU School of Theology May 1, 2026.

Go here for for several updates, including Taylor’s, about the changes ahead.

Neighbours / Inhabit 2024

Two good opportunities to think through how to befriend neighbours and be good community members are coming up this month.

• Awakening to My Neighbourhood

Karen Reed, Barry Jung and Grant Zweigle have led the way in spending time with their neighbours and developing community. They will lead ‘Awakening to My Neighbourhood’ March 9.

Their invitation to those similarly inclined:

Join us for a casual evening of sharing stories and practices around being a good neighbour and the art of neighbouring. Hosts: Karen Reed, Barry Jung, Grant Zweigle, Citygate.

Karen Reed, who lives in east Vancouver, posted ‘Neighbourliness reveals our morality’ on this site recently. It began:

Neighbours. You know, those people who live around us in our specific neighbourhood, that we didn’t choose and may not like or even know their names. How are we to think about neighbours?

Could it be that neighbourliness is the most important value for us to hold and live out?

I have posted several articles by and about Barry Jung and his tireless efforts to cultivate relationships with his neighbours just north of Oakridge Centre

Grant Zweigle is a Church of the Nazarene missionary “experimenting with pioneering practices in his own neighbourhood and developing resources for those who are interested in pioneering among urban, multicultural, secular people, going where and to whom the church is not yet.”

Also involved is CityGate Vancouver, which recently hosted Reimagining Church, Land and Community and gathers together churches and individuals working with their communities, with refugees and with local public schools.

For more information email Karen Reed: [email protected]

• inhabit 2024

Inhabit 2024 is not local, but it is in Seattle – and many Metro Vancouverites have taken part in it over the years. The annual conference is hosted by Parish Collective, which states as its purpose: “Building together for the future of the church in neighborhoods everywhere.”

They add about the April 26 – 27 event:

Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil

Among their key presenters this year: Jonathan Brooks, Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, Shannan Martin, Leroy Barber, Majora Carter, Tim Soerens and J.R. Woodward.

This year Inhabit 2024 will not take place in Seattle itself, but in Dumas Bay Centre, overlooking Puget Sound.

I have attended several Inhabit gatherings, including one in Birmingham, England, and they have always included many creative ideas and stimulating interactions.