Creating Conversation is a weekly editorial, curated by the Centre for Missional Leadership, that gives opportunity for people to speak about issues they believe are vital for the church in Vancouver. One of the goals of this weekly article is to…
Across Canada, a number of congregations which own buildings are on the verge of folding or ending. Complications from COVID-19 and resulting restrictions have exposed and accelerated the demise of certain models of church prominent during Christendom. In these models,…
This weekly editorial gives opportunity for people to speak about issues they believe are vital for the church to respond to. One of the goals of this weekly article is to spark dialogue – and action. We invite you to…
COVID-19, social isolation, racism, global warming, unaffordable housing, sexual ethics – there is no shortage of issues our city and province are facing right now. Each one of these issues calls for our attention and our thoughtful, prayerful and courageous…
Creating Conversation: This weekly editorial gives opportunity for people to speak to the Church in Vancouver about issues they believe are vital for the church to respond to. One of the goals of this weekly article is to spark dialogue…
What if the churches of the Lower Mainland could help to significantly reduce homelessness and provide affordable housing? That is the question organizations like Co:Here Housing, the Nest and Catalyst have been asking over the past five years. As director…
Living in Vancouver for the past 33 years, I have witnessed a steady shift towards secularism and fragmented approaches to life[i]. While church attendance has decreased during those three decades[ii], the conditions of belief have also changed, as Charles Taylor…
Pastor Tim Dickau of Grandview Calvary Baptist Church wrote this Foreword for his long-time friend and colleague Barry Morris. Hopeful Realism in Urban Ministry was published by Wipf and Stock in 2016. Urban ministry, especially when it is going ‘well,’…
Forming any sort of abiding face to face community is becoming rarer in our culture. Robert Putnam’s classic study Bowling Alone charts the accelerating demise of participation in community groups and associations from the years 1960 – 2000.[1] There are multiple factors…
Last Thursday (June 30) Grandview Calvary Baptist Church hosted a ground-breaking event for the Co:Here Housing Community project – a four-storey, affordable housing complex with 26 self-contained units. Following several short talks, participants walked one block east along 1st Avenue…