The TNC Story
The Neighbourhood Church in South Burnaby, by Cam Roxburgh
I’m here already, in the blink of an eye: into the final period of life in fulltime paid ministry. My son has already hinted at me retiring and moving to Phoenix and living life on a golf course (maybe there is purgatory after all). But I have always held the theological conviction that I will never retire—just stop getting paid.
It seems like just a few years since I was asked by Jeremy Bell and the BUWC to plant a church in the Edmonds neighbourhood. Shelley and I moved in and began to live the adventure of a lifetime. We had front row seats to watch God begin to craft a motley crew into a community of Christ followers; and to transform a neighbourhood—to redeem both people and place.
Over the 33 years since, we have ridden the rollercoaster of ministry. Southside Community Church has become The Neighbourhood Church, seeking to be engaged in more neighbourhoods than just South Burnaby. We’ve moved from being Seeker Sensitive, to Church Planting, to Missional. Still formed by our theological convictions that God is a missionary God, we have entered a season (after much pain) of learning to dwell with one another, discern where God is at work, and then to discover how we partner with Him in what He is doing in our neighbourhoods.
More than 25 years ago, while dwelling in the Edmonds neighbourhood, we discerned that God was calling us to obtain the property next door to our current site. The property was for sale at $950,000 and, having exactly no money, we offered $900,000. The offer was immediately countered with $2.5m. Clearly the owner did not want to sell, especially to a church. For 20 years we attempted to find ways to purchase that property, but to no avail.
About 5 years ago, we felt called to spend the whole year praying fervently about obtaining this property. We stated that if God did not act in the course of the year, we would drop our ambition of obtaining it for further development. Nothing happened.
Two months after we had finished praying, and had relinquished our hopes for the property, a well-dressed woman participated in our gathering. As soon as we had finished, she shot to the front to have a conversation with me.
“Have you ever thought of buying the property next door? You could do some amazing things if you acquired it.”
After preaching, I am always tired. I was likely a little short as well. “Lady, we have tried to buy that land for close to 25 years. Unless you are the real estate agent for the guy who owns it coming to tell us that he wants to now sell it to us, this is a waste of time conversation.” Turns out she was the real estate agent, and she was coming to us because the man who owned the property had died during the previous year—(‘Don’t get our church praying for you’ is what I learned here)—and that his kids had inherited the property and wanted to sell it.
Long story short, we bought it. We still had no money, and it was considerably more expensive, but 25 years of prayers were now coming into reality.
Over the past 4 years we have been learning to live in God’s agency rather than our own. The Imagine Edmonds project, as we have come to call it, has taken many twists and turns, but we have continued to pray. Every time we look, we see God’s hand on us and on what He is doing in our neighbourhood. He has turned our small vision into something far greater than we had ever dreamed or imagined. He has used many people who are not even followers of Him, let alone members of the church, to accomplish His purposes in the Edmonds area. The Province has even approved funding for us as their flagship BC Builds project.
We are now at the final stages of getting rezoning accepted and having the promised money from the Province released. If everything goes according to plan, we will be building a 50-storey tower with 480 units of housing for families, a 300-seat theatre for neighbourhood use, and a 50,000-square-foot ministry centre which will house not only the church’s ministry, but several other local organizations. The project will transform the neighbourhood for decades to come.
Don’t get me wrong—we still work hard. But never have I had as much fun as now. There is no pressure to accomplish anything, only the freedom to pay attention to what God is doing and to celebrate the incredible story He has invited us into.
Glory to God, The Mustard Seed Street Church Turns 50
By Grasshopper
“So, He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” Jesus, Luke 13:18-19
Introduction
I was a little boy when my eyes first caught a glimpse of the place, the Mustard Seed Street Church. It was the early 80s, and my parents had just arrived in Victoria from Quebec, travelling across the country with their two boys in an orange pop-top VW. They opened a shop on Yates St. selling the Inuit soapstone carvings and paintings of artists and friends they had made while teaching in Cape Dorset on Baffin Island in the mid-1970s. Their shop was only a couple of blocks from the sprouting Seed, so their paths were bound to cross.
The little Mustard Seed Street Church started with a forlorn prayer stool in the closet of a poster shop on Government St. in downtown Victoria. By the time we had arrived in town, the community of the Mustard Seed had already moved to a larger location on Pandora St., just down from the McPherson Playhouse near City Hall.
Some of my first memories are of the Mustard Seed Street Church. I witnessed a different world and culture there and one that would enliven my imagination as to what Love looks like. It was a place to find Jesus, a thin space between earth and heaven where the presence of Christ felt almost tangible. Walking through the doors of the Mustard Seed on Pandora, behind the sanctuary there was an office; someone called a pastor could be found there.
I remember seeing him there, the pastor, the odd time when I’d drop by with my parents. I was 5 or 6 years old, and there he’d be working in dimmer light—the smell and smoke from a burning cigarette nestled in the ashtray filling the air. His name was Gipp, some called him the Gipper, head bowed with pen in hand and writing stories of the Mustard Seed.
Here’s one of his ramblings. It is one that has stood out for me from the first time I heard it read, 40 or so years ago.
Rambling: I am a Street Person
‘I am a street person. I am twelve, I am twenty, and I am sixty years old. I live on concrete fields and bask in the neon sunshine. My pillow is of stone, and my fortune lies in broken promises. My daily bread comes from a needle and alcohol soothes the pain within me. I dress myself with what others cast off and I steal without guilt. You do not know me.
I am alone in a sea of faces, and I bleed silently. I have forgotten how to cry, and violence nurses my deformity. In your unguarded moments, you brought me your Jesus. But then you took Him home with you to clean sheets and roast beef dinners. You do not know me, and I do not believe you.
I live in an artificial world, and I recognize plastic. I have heard your singing, but you have not heard my silence. I have seen your Bibles clutched in your minds, but your heart would not let it go. You speak of love, but I am mothered by hate. I am adopted. You are my real mother, and you do not know me.
At night I cry, but you do not come to me, for my crib is beneath a bridge, or in a parkade, or hidden in some alley. My blanket is woven with artificial dreams and I shiver in my aloneness. I am not innocent, I am guilty. I am crucified with my own thoughts and yours. My appearance turns you away, you are disgusted and you do not know that I am too.
Last night I awoke afraid, but you weren’t there. The darkness of the streets engulfed me, but my adopted mother gave me drugs in a bottle and in smoke, and I slept without trembling. Each day I look for you on the horizon, as a sheep might await her shepherd, but you do not come.
Today, the real Jesus and I had coffee, and we wept because you had not come. His hands were blistered with my tears, and His feet were swollen with my fear. I am “one of the least of these” and I am lost. You are the ninety-nine. Have you not noticed I am missing?
I wait for you, please come soon. I am on the streets, hidden in the bowels of the city. My arms are punctured with waiting. My mind, though dull, seeks your recognition. Please look for me, I live here, I am a street person.’
Core
He called me “Grasshopper.” Gipp was Original. He came from the streets of Hamilton, Ontario and ran with a gang; got to know the other rougher and real culture of the inner city there.
In the mid-60s he was on the streets and writing poetry in Vancouver. It was one day by the beach in English Bay that he was approached by someone throwing flyers out for a Billy Graham crusade. He went to this crusade and there he believed, and his life following Jesus Christ began.
With the help of Rev. Norman Archer—who mentored Gipp—and Emmanuel Baptist Church, a little band of people who loved to serve and came together at a prayer stool in the closet of a poster shop…became the Mustard Seed Street Church. It all started in prayer and with community, the blossoming of inspiration to love God and love our neighbour, and just how to live that out.
Looking back, we can find stories of the encounter of the Kingdom of Heaven within our communities, like when people have come to the Lord, believing for the first time or when new ministries whether ongoing, or for a season start up. These new-life moments are platforms or canvasses on which people lean into closer relationship with one another, and with the risen Christ welling up. Yes, in the history of our communities we can remember what has mattered most in our friendships, and the closeness of Home and Peace in Him that has been felt with one another. This has eternal significance for us, the Presence of our risen Lord alive in us.
This experience of the Love of God changes the way we see things. Jesus Christ is our new paradigm, and through His eyes we see the world and we live into, becoming more aware of Him and every day bearing witness to stories of His Love in the world.
Further
Gipp was motivated. He held and encouraged a wonderful vision for the Mustard Seed Street Church from the outset. It would be a place where people, all people, would find welcome, come together, be healed, find belonging, and come alive in Christ.
It was in response to a recession in town, in 1982 that our Food Bank started as a ministry of the Mustard Seed Street Church. The need was felt, and the people of the Mustard Seed heard the cry and responded.
Gipp also spoke with passion about a vision for Mustard Seed Street Church’s to be planted in cities across Canada in close connection with local believers and churches. In the mid-80s, along with another pastor (Pat Nixon) who had been involved in his Street Pastors in Training (SPITs) program in Victoria, two new Mustard Seed Street Churches were planted—one in Calgary and the other in Edmonton.
We have been blessed with wonderful leaders encouraging the expression of the Mustard Seed Street Church over the years. In the mid-1990s Reverend Tom Oshiro felt led to join the team. He offered humble, compassionate, and undefended leadership for us as we embarked on a season of change and growth at the Mustard Seed, lasting nearly 20 years.
It was in 2006 that Pastor Tom, along with the administrative guidance of Rev. Chris Riddell and the vision of Brent Palmer (MSSC Food Bank Director) that Hope Farm Healing Centre was planted.
In the early 2010s, a Family Centre opened on Queens Avenue in response to an ever-increasing need to care for families and children the Mustard Seed was serving. In 2017, along with the increasing need for food security in our Capital Region, Victoria and surrounding areas, our Food Rescue and Distribution Centre was established in Esquimalt as a grand collaboration initiative with many local partners and organizations.
Today, our Food Security ministries cooperate with over 70 different organizations throughout the CRD and our warehouse on Viewfield Rd is shared with like-minded organizations involved in Food Security and Meal Programs for our Victoria area communities.
There is story in the numbers with us: in every number we see loving care, a glimpse of hope, and the Love of God.
Here are a few numbers from our food security ministry that led us into prayer for our community and praising God for ongoing provision to help. In 2024, over 2.5 million pounds of food was collected and shared with over 70 social service agencies, through our Food Distribution Centre in Esquimalt. Our Market on Queens Avenue, a choice-based food bank, distributed over 650,000lbs of food and drinks, equivalent to over 1500 meals per day. And each day we offer hot meals to our community who find safety, welcome and belonging inside our doors. Over 74,000lbs of food is distributed this way, along with countless cold drinks and cups of coffee.
We are in a place, through the services we offer at the Mustard Seed, to cross paths with tens of thousands of people throughout the year. Dorothy Day once said, “Food for the body is not enough, there must be food for the soul.” We are a bridge and a crossroads in our community, like an aid station in a long race. We can be a weekly stop point as refreshment for some and survival for others.
Hundreds of volunteers join with our various ministries throughout the year to find opportunities to serve and encourage one another.
Excellence in advocacy is a focal point to our presence and future vision at the Mustard Seed. When there’s an inquiry for help of any sort, we are diligent to connect with our community and give good directions to local agencies. When there’s a curiosity toward the reason why we do what we do or an interest to go deeper with us to find belonging, then the conversation gets exciting indeed!
Our interest is inclusion, and an open door for all to find home, belonging, and life-changing encounter with Christ. Along with services like hair care, a clothing boutique and foot care, we offer support groups for men and women, mid-week spiritual formation and Bible study, morning devotions, hiking groups for a bit of soul care outside of city, farm work crews and a monthly fellowship evening at Hope Farm Healing Centre. Every week launches at the Mustard Seed with worship and prayer from our weekly fellowship and service on Sunday afternoons at Queens Avenue.
‘Called not only to preach but to serve’ was an attitude inspired by Gipp and it has become an anthem lived out in us—our focus on living the life of Christ and so, expressing the Love of God in community for our neighbour.
If you would like to learn more about the programs and vision for the Mustard Seed into our next 50 years, or you would like to get involved and to support our work financially by donation, please connect with us.
In one of his ramblings, Gipp highlights a character he calls ‘Captain Sunshine.’ He writes that he was ‘a minstrel of the dawn if you like; Captain Sunshine without a cape, just a pleasant but silly grin that made you think the world had a chance of becoming better. I see his footprints in the sand when the surf of thoughts crash against the rocks of my mind, his shrug when things would grow weary on the shoulders of the wind, and his laughter in the murmuring leaves of summer. He had so much of heaven in him that it wasn’t difficult to believe there was such a place.’
He goes on, “Jesus told his followers to go out into the world and spread the gospel. If you paraphrased that you might hear Him say; ‘Go out into the world and spread sunshine, telling everybody about God’s love that is far greater than anything we can ever imagine… about patience and tolerance and hope, and the goodness of our heart if it’s properly exercised; about forgiveness and laughter, and words and smiles that make you and others feel good. Go out and spread light and be what God made you to be. Don’t just say it…be it!’ He did that. We called him Captain Sunshine, and what he left can never be taken away because it lives in the human heart, renewed and transformed by the love of God. In fact, he left us so much sunshine that every one of us can afford to give a whole bunch away, not only to friends but to strangers too. Each one of us can be a Captain Sunshine if we want to. That’s God’s promise – and He keeps His word.”
Thank you to the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada for being with us, supporting us, and keeping us in prayer from day one. That’s 50 years walking together following and serving Jesus… our Captain Sunshine. Thank you for living out His Light and encouraging our heart for Him every step of the way.
Here is our timeless reminder, to keep our focus on track:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.’” (Jesus)
Chris Pollock
Ministry News
Warm Welcomes:
Randy Baker, Lead Pastor at Qualicum Baptist Church
Megan Ferbers, Children and Youth Pastor at Hillside Baptist Church
Kristian Landry, Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church Nanaimo
Joseph Ng, Assistant Pastor focusing on Youth Ministry at Westside Baptist Church
Kristin Rose, Pastor/Elder at Hillside Baptist Church
Larry Schram, Interim Lead Pastor at Summerland Baptist Church
Fond Farewells:
Wayne Morgan, Lead Pastor retired from First Baptist Church Prince George
Callum Jones, Lead Pastor from Trinity Baptist Church Vancouver
Bree Young, Children & Families Ministry Pastor from Summerland Baptist Church
Melanie Ihmels, Associate Pastor from The Mustard Seed Street Church
Matthew Fox’s ordination service at Comox Community Baptist
Kristian Landry’s induction service at FBC Nanaimo
This regional newsletter is published quarterly within the CBWC’s monthly newsletter, Making Connections.