Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller released a pastoral letter February 16 urging Roman Catholics to look for ways to respond to the region’s drug overdose crisis. Though it was aimed at Catholics, it is also valuable for the whole Christian…
Karen Giesbrecht coordinates several community meals at churches around Vancouver. Some of the participants struggle with addictions, and she is concerned with the implications of easier access to marijuana promised by all levels of government. On a recent Monday evening,I…
Just over a month ago, the Jacob’s Well community was not sure whether it would be able to carry on, having been evicted from its long-time home at 239 Main Street, just north of Hastings Street. The team decided to close its doors…
Christ Church Cathedral will host Vancouver Remembers and Honours next Thursday (May 18), “a community vigil for people affected by the overdose crisis.” Kari Bergrud of Union Gospel Mission – one partner organizing the event – sent out this invitation: The…
Fr. Matthew Johnson serves in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with the Street Outreach Initiative, a joint program of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster and St. James Anglican Church. British Columbia finds itself in a life and death crisis. All around…
It has been quite a few years since Debra Fieguth lived in Vancouver, but I know she retained a good number of friends here – and many more will remember her from her days as editor of BC Christian News.…
The Lookout Gallery at Regent College displays good art all year round, but this time it’s seasonal, with WL Hibberd’s Winter Aesthetic. According to the gallery, Hibberd “searches for beauty in the light, form and colour of winter’s landscape.” Hibberd,…
Raised in foster care, a child of alcoholic parents and residential school survivors, 47 year old Loretta John is no stranger to pain. But after overcoming alcoholism, addiction, homelessness and poverty, and after enduring decades of back-breaking labour work, Loretta…
Twenty-one years ago Mike Miller stepped off the bus in Vancouver with nine dollars in his pocket, looking for a fresh start. Despite his desire to break from his addiction and move forward in life, he ended up homeless, sleeping…
Union Gospel Mission (UGM) is 75 years old. Much celebrating was under way this week to mark the anniversary of the Downtown Eastside (DTES) landmark at 601 East Hastings Street – and two other nearby locations. (The Mission has operations…