Around Town: Neighbourhood Stories, On the Table, TWU law school: context

Barry and Joan Jung have been active in getting to know their neighbours over the past six years.

Barry Jung has been going out of his way to spend time with his neighbours for several years now (see Staking faith in the Cambie Corridor).

Over the past couple of years he has been sharing his insights at several local churches which want to be a more significant presence in their communities.

Next Saturday evening (July 14) he will host Neighbourhood Stories at his home church, Granville Chapel. It will highlight the work of some innovative initiatives.

He says:

Join us as we gather for music, refreshments, conversations and to share stories about what we are learning, where we are growing and how we see God working in our neighbourhoods. Our ongoing hope is to encourage each other and be rooted and linked as we weave together a tapestry of care and love in our city and into our neighbourhoods.

Invited story tellers will include:

•  Trixie Ling, Flavours of Hope

Flavours of Hope is a non-profit social enterprise that supports and empowers newcomer women to earn a living wage and build social connections in communities through cooking and sharing culinary traditions and stories. (Go here for a brief write-up on Flavours of Hope’s pop-up dinners and Summer Food Markets at Granville Island.)

• Jenn Richards: The Art of Neighbouring podcast

How can you be a good neighbour? Is the primary role of a Christian in their neighbourhood to evangelize? How can we make connections with the people around us? Claire Perini, Jenn Richards and Barry Jung discuss these questions and more in this episode of the Regent College Podcast.

• Rob Nutting & Jeanette Moss: Co:Here Housing

Co:Here’s architecture of shared life and commitment to ‘integrated housing’ fosters real community. Photo: Rob Nutting

Co:Here Housing offers a creative way to address homelessness. Vision: To foster human flourishing through the creation of affordable housing communities by committing to the care for the whole person. Mission: To respond to the crisis of homelessness through the construction of an affordable and holistic housing community of 26 units on the southwest corner of Victoria Drive and 1st Avenue East that will help foster human flourishing. (Go here for a good story about Co:Here.)

• Barry Jung: The Art of Neighbouring

My involvement with our neighbours first began shortly after hearing neighbourhood stories and reference to Vancouver Foundation’s 2012 Connections and Engagement Survey [see below]. The survey results and the stories prompted me and my wife to begin our practice of neighbouring. I use the term practice as I feel it emphasizes an intentionality of being an active neighbour. This act of intentional neighbouring is rooted in my faith –  that to love God, is to love neighbour.

• Tina Teeninga: Otherwise Productions

Emergent. Relational. Local. Collective. Otherwise Productions savours exploration, the unfolding goodness of growth, and the scrappy beauty of imperfection. We invest in people, and embrace big perspective; that each artist is on his or her own unique journey. We perseveringly and joyfully pursue mastery.

Karen Reed will moderate a discussion following presentations.

On the Table: an invitation

Barry Jung would also love to see churches and individuals planning ahead for On the Table, which will take place September 13. On that day, the Vancouver Foundation is encouraging people to reach out to each other by sharing a meal.

The Vancouver Foundation “connect(s) the generosity of donors with the energy, ideas and time of people in the community.” Its groundbreaking Connections and Engagement report in 2012 highlighted a growing sense of isolation and disconnection as the main social ill facing residents of Vancouver. Last year it produced a follow-up report, Connect & Engage, which confirmed and expanded upon the earlier findings.

Jonathan Bird of City Gate wrote a very useful overview of the two studies on Church for Vancouver. He noted:

Perhaps the most surprising good news [in terms of personal connections] is the fact that, counter to what we might expect, older residents reported the lowest levels of loneliness and spending too much time alone, and they find it easier to make new friends. Looking for a friend? New to the building or the block? Knock on the door of your elderly neighbour!

On the other hand, you might be a little surprised to hear who is most likely to be lonely: the poor, the young and the unemployed. Compared to the survey average of 14% saying they feel lonely “often” or “almost always,” 38% of people with household income less than $20,000 said so, as did 30% of people aged 18 to 24, and 26% of folks without a job. Young adults age 18 to 24 (60%) and 25 to 34 (67%) also expressed greater difficulty making new friends.

The most common obstacles to getting together with friends are work and school obligations (48%, jumping to 76% among people 18 to 24), not enough time (40%), family obligations (32%), being too far away (32%), personal finances (20%) and feeling overwhelmed or stressed (18%).

We as congregations and individuals might not be able to do much about our lonely neighbours’ lack of time, but surely we can assist in the other ways they think will make it easier for them to make new friends: we can be approachable and friendly, discover what low-cost interests we have in common and do them together in community or common spaces. Maybe a walk around Stanley Park, followed by a movie night at the church? . . .

Bird concluded with this observation, directly related to On the Table:

The Vancouver Foundation concludes with several calls to action, all of which brilliantly align with what the church ought to be on about. For instance, they are planning a new initiative to invite people from all walks of life to share a meal and talk about what really matters in their community. Sounds like the Gospel of Luke.

They also enjoin every one of us as well as organizations of every description to engage in conversation, ask questions, to listen well. That act of convening neighbours and groups to mediate careful dialogue that yields trust, confidence and experimentation toward the shalom of our city – that is what sifted out as the number one priority at the conclusion of the Vancouver Consultation last year. Who’s up for it?

Go here for the full article.

Here are a couple of entries from the On the Table FAQ page:

What is On the Table?

On the Table is an invitation from Vancouver Foundation for people, organizations, and communities across BC to come together, share some food, and have conversations about what matters most to them. All the topics that are discussed will be collected and shared – giving us an exciting snapshot of what’s on people’s minds across the province right now. It’s a fun, meaningful opportunity for people everywhere to meet, gather, and share!

Where should On the Table events take place?

You can host On the Table in any place that inspires people to talk. It could be your local library or office breakroom, a neighbourhood restaurant or a nearby park, church or recreation centre. Many people will host at home, around their own kitchen table. What matters most is that people come together, share some food and have a conversation.

Why is Vancouver Foundation doing this?

This year is our 75th anniversary, and we want our celebration to be about something bigger than us. That’s why we’re inviting everyone across BC to be part of it. One thing we’ve learned through our work is that people are longing for a deeper connection to their neighbours and community. On the Table gives us all a chance to do something about it. Great things happen when we come together, share food, and have a conversation.

Go here for more information about On the Table, including the rest of the FAQ responses.

TWU law school decision

It has now been over two weeks since the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of two provincial law societies to bar graduates of Trinity Western University’s proposed law school. That space of time has allowed observers to write some good assessments of the situation.

Particularly encouraging was a column by Paul Schratz, who wrote in The B.C. Catholic:

After experiencing some disappointment, it’s always good to allow a little time for context to sink in.

Last week, thanks to our 24-hour news environment, we were wringing our hands over the Supreme Court’s decision on Trinity Western University.

This week it was good to hear a few words of reason from some of the principals involved with the case. In a webinar broadcast on Facebook by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Ottawa-based lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos, EFC president Bruce Clemenger and Justin Cooper of Christian Higher Education Canada discussed the implications of the ruling.

In short, they said the decision was disappointing and bad news for people of faith, but didn’t mark the end of religious freedom in Canada. The court simply found the law societies acted “reasonably” when they decided not to accredit graduates of the proposed law school.

Go here for the full comment. For the EFC webinar go here.

EFC president Bruce Clemenger wrote a very helpful three-part series, ‘Making Sense of the TWU Court Decision’: Part One (on the majority decision), Part Two (on the dissenting opinion), Part Three (on the implications of the decision).

Derek Ross, executive director of Christian Legal Fellowship wrote Supreme Court’s TWU decision: an illiberal outcome for The Lawyer’s Daily.

Also worth reading is Bruce Pardy’s strongly worded comment in the National Post: The Supreme Court’s TWU ruling is a cruel joke played on all Canadians.

Don Hutchinson wrote an extensive review of the case (Supreme Court sidesteps Supreme Being and supreme commitment), as befits the author of  the book Under Siege: Religious Freedom and the Church in Canada at 150 (1867 – 2017).

Hutchinson concluded with these words:

Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada do not change what it means to be a Christian. Our challenge is to in fact and deed be Christians. The current trial for our faith in Canada is whether we will exhibit our faith, not whether we will be imprisoned for it.

Canada continues to have one of the most robust expressions of religious freedom of any country in the world.

We know that we live with an advancing secularism and a “general perception” that thinks little of religion, Christianity in particular. Now is a time for Christians and Christian leaders to pray, to strategize about engagement with other Christians, other faith communities and Canadian society, to engage our fellow Canadians in a way that honours our faith, and organize finances for the costs incurred by those who stand for Christ before governments and before the courts.

And the law school? It started with a dream. Enough people now share the dream that it has become a vision. Historically, such vision has a way of finding fulfillment.