“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” a tv commercial jingle comically announces as we see a parent pushing a shopping cart, filled with back-to-school items while their child follows behind looking exceedingly dismayed. Early September has a natural, cyclical feeling of new beginnings. New connections. Fresh starts. But as the child in the commercial portrays, there can also be some trepidation as we let go of the comfort of the familiar to embrace the unknown even when our school days are long behind us.
I relocated to Vancouver about two years ago to serve as pastor with Spirit of Life Lutheran Church, located close to downtown. In the interview process I was told that Vancouver by reputation was known as the “loneliest city in Canada”. The congregation was interested in helping people make community connections. During my thirty-three years in Victoria, I often heard similar complaints indicating how difficult it is for newcomers to make friends here, and I’m certain loneliness isn’t an exclusively west coast struggle.
We are social creatures that crave connection with others. It’s why a new school year, or a move to a new city can cause worry amid our anticipation. Will we find community? Will we be seen and welcomed for who we are? Can we find new spaces where we can flourish? In the gospel of Luke, we hear about the many healings Jesus performed which might conjure images of restored physical, mental and spiritual health, but as Jesus healed, Jesus restored people back to community. Community is important to our wellbeing. We seek it out and lament its absence for good reason.
One of the ministries we’ve started at Spirit of Life is the Community Lunch Project. Every Thursday we partner with the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House to produce one hundred healthy lunches made from recovered grocery and bakery donations. Each bag bares the handwritten message “You are Loved” because it isn’t just the school-aged child that gains liberating identity in such lunch bag reminders. They’re offered to passers-by on the busy sidewalk outside the church by simple invitation: “Would you like a lunch?” It is Eucharistic on purpose. It is a local neighbourhood embodiment of Jesus connecting people around food.
Initially, we thought the ministry might be about food security, but we’ve since realized it is more about community. Vancouver by reputation and according to numerous cost-of-living surveys, is the second most expensive city to live in Canada. Toronto ranks first and Victoria, fifth. We’re discovering that along with vulnerable and transient people frequenting the nearby SkyTrain station at Broadway and Cambie, there are seniors, students, families, children, people of all identities and abilities who are hungering for the basics, which ultimately includes community. When Jesus indiscriminately drew people together over a meal, Jesus offered a wholeness that connected people to one another and to God. We were never meant to dismiss the wellbeing of our neighbour or uphold barriers that keep people from flourishing in community. We were always meant to understand that belonging included everyone.
It’s rare that someone will turn us down. Over the past year, we’ve been honoured to build real relationship with many of our neighbours without any proselytizing agenda, only a genuine hope. A neighbour once asked, “why do you do this?” Meaning, what’s the angle here? “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” A beloved and oftentimes cheeky volunteer who would never call herself a Christian but would easily call herself a neighbour replied, “With all due respect, we’re here to hope that isn’t so.” This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday. September 10th 2022
The Rev. Aneeta Devi Saroop (she/her) is the pastor at Spirit of Life Lutheran Church in Vancouver, BC. She is an Ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking at https://www.timescolonist.com/blogs/spiritually-speaking
This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday. September 10th 2022
