Student Testimonials:
“I began my involvement in the Multifaith Centre when I began teaching the 2SLGBTQ+ yoga class.
Ruth Dantzer invited me to promote my class at the Inclusive Christians group. I loved it, and I kept coming back for the rest of the year, until it became a central point of my week and then of my life.
For me, Multifaith has opened the door to community. I’ve never been community-minded, and I always thought of myself as a solitary person. So stepping into community, and liking it, was a real paradigm shift for me that took some getting used to. I realised what people are talking about when they say that community is important. I knew all this before I came here, in theory. But its a completely different thing to see it in practice.
But I’ve also come to realise that community doesn’t happen on its own. It takes work to make a space where community happens, and I’ve found myself watching the way that the people at the center of Inclusive Christians work to bring this about.
All the spiritual care providers I’ve been in contact with have taught me what ministry looks like. It’s not complicated, but it’s not easy, either. It’s about making space and calling people into it, it’s seeing who’s outside or afraid or lonely and extending them a hand. It’s about listening to people, and the world around you, just listening and noticing, and being open. I’ve benefited so much from this ministry. And it’s also something I’ve been trying to emulate, in my yoga classes, but also in my life outside of that. It doesn’t come naturally to me, but the more I practice it, the more I take that leap into talking with someone new, the easier it feels. I didn’t think of myself as someone who could do that. But I’ve learned I can.
Community has opened so many other doors for me, too. I feel more and more connected to the world, more grounded in reality. And more connected to God, too. It’s becoming easier for me to hear what God’s work for me in the world is. It’s the work that I’ve seen around me in the centre: To listen, to notice, and to call people in like I was called in. “ - Sage
“IC has been the source of some amazing community and friendships... honestly my primary community as a relatively recent newcomer to BC and Canada in general, and it has renewed my faith in so many ways I never expected it to. I carried so much church hurt through the way I was raised and the bigotry leveled against myself and fellow LGBTQ+ people, and it has triggered me into healthfully deconstructing and unpacking ideas I may have unconsciously leveled against other people as well. I'll be forever grateful for the way this little community supported me last year…” - Marc