I love cities. New York, London, Mumbai, Berlin, Singapore, Hong Kong – it doesn’t matter. Plop me in the middle of millions of people in a downtown core and I am a happy camper. The fact that I am working…
I love the city
Category: Community
Trinitarian mission saves us from ‘practical atheism’
There is a tree in my neighbourhood that some believe is sacred. To me, it looks like every other tree in the park. But to some of my neighbours, the tree has become an object of power that they turn to for the sake…
Nov 4 – 10: Learn from JJ Bean, Midland bosses, party with WeMakeStuff . . .
The founder of Vancouver’s favourite home-brewed coffee empire will talk about why he thinks mentorship is so important during a dinner meeting at the Vancouver Club on Wednesday (November 6). In 1996, John Neate Jr. founded JJ Bean, starting with…
Confessions of a ‘seeker targeted’ pastor
I’ll admit it. When I planted Southside Community Church 21 years ago I was influenced by Willow Creek Community Church. No church loved their neighbours more than Willow. A passion to introduce their friends to Jesus drove Willow Creek Community Church. I learned a lot…
A church that walks with the people
We are in the midst of an exciting time for the church in Vancouver. The recent Walk for Reconciliation helped me think through why that is. Walking with the people Thousands of church people joined a giant crowd of Vancouverites September…
Sept 30 – Oct 6: Priorities, story-telling, Life on the Margins, Life Chain . . .
Timing is everything, they say. Ken Shigematsu’s new book (God in My Everything) focuses on “how an ancient rhythm helps busy people enjoy God” and he will be a featured speaker at Missions Fest’s Leadership Seminar Wednesday morning (October 2)…
It started like a bad joke . . . or Creation Care 101
It sounds like a bad joke: what do you get when a Buddhist, a Christian and a Wiccan sit down for a meal together? Actually, it was one Buddhist, three Christians, one Wiccan and three agnostics and what you got was some…
This week: Josh Garrels, two art shows, Muffins for Granny, Bethel Music . . .
We’re into September so there’s lots going on around Vancouver. Check out the Events calendar. Here are a few highlights this week: Josh Garrels at St. Andrew’s-Wesley I was one of the fortunate souls gathered at Josh Garrels’ Rio Theatre…
Shifting Stats tour shook the church, but also provided grounds for hope
More teenagers in Canada now identify as Muslims than Anglicans, Uniteds and Baptists combined. That was just one of the findings put forward at Shifting Stats: Shaking the Church, a series of day-long forums for Christian leaders that attracted an…
UrbanPromise closes urban ‘camps,’ hopes to start up again one day
UrbanPromise’s two after-school ‘camps’ – one in East Vancouver and the other in Whalley, near Surrey’s Central City – are no more. Featured in a Church for Vancouver story earlier this year, Camp Hope and Camp Peace had operated respectively…