Jemal Damtawe is well known and respected in the Downtown Eastside as an outreach worker with Union Gospel Mission (UGM). Many will know that he struggled with addictions himself before he overcame them and began helping others on the street.…
Kids all over Metro Vancouver are returning to school this week, but the experience will be unique at three new schools in Vancouver, New Westminster and Surrey. Marion Van Driel wrote a good article on two schools with roots in…
Paul Schratz’s recent column demonstrates the depth and breadth of trauma flowing from recent sexual abuse revelations in the Catholic Church. Though he is speaking primarily to fellow Catholics, his message applies to all of us. Since the news came out about…
I plan to take the rest of the summer off, following this weekly update. (And I recently realized that this month marks the fifth anniversary of Church for Vancouver.) If, like me, you’re tired of hearing evangelicals described in the…
Even though I’ve been out of school for many years, I still have nightmares where I am a student completely unprepared for a French or math exam. I feel the pressure to perform, like when I played competitive basketball and…
When U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would name a new pro-life justice for the Supreme Court, critics called it the launch of a new “War Against Women.” One columnist summed it up fatefully: “If abortion is illegal, women will die and…
I could hardly believe my luck, getting off the waiting list and into the Uncommon Devotion: Reflections on Puritan Texts conference July 13 – 14. An anonymous donor had made it possible for eminent scholars on the Puritans from North America…
Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, Nigeria gave a first-hand account of Muslim persecution of his fellow Christians when he visited local Catholics early last month. He told B.C. Catholic reporter Agnieszka Krawczynski that he has not taken one day off from…
A couple of musicians well known in local church circles are part of the line-up for this year’s Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 13 – 15). Dawn Pemberton Dawn Pemberton is very active in the Vancouver music scene. She will be performing…
Clean from hard drugs for two years and living in the brand new Co:Here Housing Community, Todd K’s[i] journey of recovery has been long. He began drinking heavily at 15, and was living on the streets of Vancouver with a crack cocaine…