Around Town: The Regent Vine, Timothy Hall open at UBC, March4Jesus . . .

The Regent Vine: “Contemporary art helps us, without words, to understand the world theologically.”

Regent College announced a new website September 16. Hoping to welcome a broader audience to learn about what transpires under the school’s iconic green roof, they say:

This website redevelopment project and the accompanying brand refresh are described in Regent’s current strategic plan as “a fresh expression” of Regent College. . . .

Central to this new messaging is a bold invitation to “Explore the Difference Christ Makes to Everything,” which is based on a remark by longtime Regent faculty member Dr. J.I. Packer.

For a detailed look at the process, the purpose and the partners involved, go here. But I am particularly keen on one particular aspect of Regent’s new site – their new online publication.

The Regent Vine

Jeremy Stewart, Director of Communications & Public Engagement at Regent College, is Editor-in-Chief of The Regent Vine.

Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Stewart, supported by a substantial team, has some impressive people to draw on, both on campus, but also around the world

Over the years, Regent College has welcomed a talented and diverse group of teachers and writers, and has many friends in cultivated circles.

The first ‘issue’ of The Regent Vine features a wide range of topics; all the articles are well worth reading – current, but also likely to age well.

One, however, struck me as being particularly timely, given that it links to an upcoming event:

• Jonathan A. Anderson: The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art begins:

The canonical histories of modern and contemporary art have been written largely without serious consideration of religion.

This does not mean that religion has been absent or irrelevant. Indeed, once one begins looking for it, one finds religious references, concepts and influences woven throughout these histories.

But for various reasons these references, concepts and influences became hermeneutically inaccessible in the dominant discourses about art made in the past 170 years or so.

This creates a strange situation: Even as religious traditions have shaped many major 20th and 21st century artists and artworks (and the sociocultural contexts in which they are received and circulated), when one turns to the art-historical scholarship about these periods, one finds religion playing little or no constructive role in the writing about these artists and artworks.

This situation has been shifting in recent years. . . .

This comment is particularly timely, for several reasons:

• It relates directly to Anderson’s brand new book of the same name: The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art (University of Notre Dame Press, April 2025);
• The book has been very well received. Interviewing Anderson for Comment, Matthew J. Milliner stated, “I expect his new book. . . to be the definitive overview of the ways that contemporary art and theology intersect. . . . I’d call Jonathan’s book a bombshell on the playground of the art historians and art critics”;
• There will be a book launch at Regent College Chapel October 7, 7 pm. (Jonathan Anderson is the Eugene & Jan Peterson Associate Professor of Theology and the Arts at Regent College.)

A couple of other pieces have some connection to upcoming events:

• Jens Zimmermann: Artificial Intelligence and the Diminishment of Human Identity: Zimmermann is Director of the Houston Centre for Humanity and the Common Good, an affiliate of Regent College, which will host Bruce Pardy October 1, for a lecture titled ‘The Paradoxes of Liberal Democracy: Why Modern Democratic States are Failing and How They Could Be Fixed,’ 7 pm at UBC’s Sage Lecture Hall.
• Cheryl Bear: Indigeneity, Spirituality and the Church: This podcast from singer / songwriter Cheryl Bear (recorded in 2020) would be appropriate as we come up to the National Day for Reconciliation September 30.

The Regent Vine wants to foster broad discussion – though Regent still affirms its ‘historical evangelicalism’ stance on the Mission, Values & Theological Position page.

Timothy Hall

Timothy Hall is now home to 104 students on the UBC campus.

Colin Godwin, President of Carey Theological College reported in Making Connections (a newsletter of the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada) that Carey is now housing even more students that it already had been.

He wrote:

Timothy Hall, Carey Theological College’s second student residence building at the University of British Columbia, is now fully operational and fully occupied by 104 students.

The new building offers a range of suites, from studios to three-bedroom apartments, along with thoughtfully designed shared amenity spaces. It significantly enhances our ability to accommodate students and provide them with a nurturing environment that fosters their academic and spiritual growth. 

Carey is grateful for donors who made this dream a reality, to the glory of God. The building project was started during the pandemic, when many other building projects were suspended or stopped altogether. It is a testament to the vision, careful planning, and most importantly, the faith of Carey’s Board, staff and development professionals that the building stands completed today. . . .

Timothy Hall will generate additional funds to support the growth of Carey Theological College. We remain committed to training pastors who can “preach the Word faithfully, in season and out of season; reproving, rebuking and exhorting, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). 
 
We praise God for the continued growth of Carey and the opportunity to equip the next generation of leaders for His Kingdom. 

 The UBC Development Permit Board issued a development permit in February 2023 and the project was completed this spring.

March4Jesus Surrey

March4Jesus Surrey will take place this Saturday, September 20.

Some people think the March for Jesus is a thing of the past (and maybe should remain there).

But others clearly believe there is life in the international movement yet – and that it is regaining momentum following hiatus of a couple of decades.

One parade was held in Burnaby on Canada Day (July 1) and another is coming up this weekend (September 20).

March4Jesus Surrey will begin at 10 am on University Boulevard near 106th Avenue and progress to Holland Park where a worship festival on the performance stage will start at 11 am.

This will be the fifth year of March4Jesus, which aims “to provide a collaborative effort to come together and celebrate our faith.”

Food justice, volunteering and worship are key issues for participants in March4Jesus Surrey.

Organizers focus on three areas throughout the year:

• Community Church: “Food justice is an important part of community justice. We take donations from local businesses and use them to fight hunger. Help us connect with donors and with people in need.”
• Volunteer to help: “Every Sunday, we mobilize our teams of volunteers to make a real difference. Join us and see what can be accomplished when you get an impassioned team to focus on change.
• Worship band & performers: “Our community is full of people who want to help. We work to help the people providing services with the people who need them. Come connect with people in new ways.”

The international March for Jesus site notes that they have many marches in the United States and are aware of others, including Indonesia, Kenya, France, Ireland, Bahamas, Nigeria, South Africa, Netherlands, Cameroon, Venezuela, Peru and Cayman Islands.

They offer an interesting History of Marching timeline, which begins with Joshua leading the Israelites around Jericho and notes:

Marching and proclamation were a part of the beginnings of the Salvation Army and the Methodists. In 1885, the Salvation Army marched to the Houses of Parliament with a petition of 343,000 signatures, demanding that the trade in child prostitution be stopped and the age of consent be raised from 13 to 16 years old. They succeeded, and lives were changed.

They cover marches in England and the United States during the 1980s and early 1990s, then go year by year during 1990s, the height of the movement. Between 2001 and 2019, they state, “While no longer nationally organized, there have been many marches scattered around the nation through the years.”

They have yearly write-ups, again, since 2020.

Events & Jobs

Events are listed below, but there is also an Events page and a Jobs page on the Church for Vancouver site.