TheListeningPost.ca 1.0 (The original site) is archived now.
Well it has been a pleasure for the last 2 years and 7 months to be as the owner of this domain name in the position to have provided it for the use of T.L.P. in Vancouver.
As it was I had voluntarily for years provided the Server, the Linux server administration, the WordPress Development, and the Video / Chat / Document Cloud Server, in truth all you see and can do / use on the website.
Volunteers did not adopt the use of the website, the forums, or the Cloud based Video / Chat / Document Cloud Server.
With hundreds of hours of administration, registration, curating and code based development provided free of cost to TLP it just was not adopted by the former intended users.
In October 2022 it was communicated to me that the Rivendell Foundation was of the mind or position that some of the content of the website was not in keeping with their vision. I would like to stress there was nothing Immoral, illegal, or anything of that sort of material published.
Welcome to ~ TheListeningPost.ca ~ Website 2.0
Here is where you can access here (Link to archive coming soon)
Did you know there are other “Listening Posts” out there? Though we aren’t affiliated there is some cross-pollination. The clay heart “Labyrinth,” hanging over the bookshelf, I am told, came from some visitors from another LP. I’m posting a “ListeningPost Blessing” from the group in Anchorage at the end of this newsletter. I’ll also put some copies in the Volunteer folder on the desk. You may want to say this blessing before opening or take a copy hope to use before or after your sessions.
In other news, we are postponing the Volunteer Gathering scheduled for October 15.It seems like we first need a bit more time to get settled after our summer break. I’ll schedule a Zoom connection time for early November instead. More details to come but essentially this will be a time to check in with one another (some peer supervision, if you will) and add some of the training/ discussion topics you all have requested.
There are several other events/happenings to have on your radar below. One item to highlight is that the fall LP Rivendell retreat will be October 27-November 1. We could use all hands on deck that week, so even if you aren’t going to be on the retreat, it would be helpful if you can plan to volunteer that week (and maybe on a different day). There will be several away leading or participating in the retreat so we will have several gaps at the LP to fill that week. Thanks!
LOOKING AHEAD…
LP Rivendell Retreat: Oct 27 – Nov 1. Please write names and contacts in Joy’s folder for those interested in attending.
Heart of the City Festival is happening in the neighbourhood Oct 30 – Nov 10. See here for details, or see guidebooks coming out soon (If you have never attended anything from this festival it is a great opportunity to connect with some of the beauty and the creativity of the DTES.) The LP will have two offerings during the festival:
Day of the Dead Community Altar: Oct 28 – Nov 4 (More details in next newsletter)
BLESSING FOR THE LISTENINGPOST
Adapted by the Anchorage LP from The Book of Blessings; To Bless the Space Between Us, by John O’Donahue
May the ListeningPost be a shelter for all hearts
who come to be heard.
May all the weight of the world fall from their shoulders.
May their souls be tranquil here,
blessed by peace the world cannot give.
May the ListeningPost be open and blessed spaces
where the grace and acceptance our visitors desire
find a pathway to our doors.
May nothing destructive ever cross into our space.
May the ListeningPost be a safe place
full of understanding and acceptance,
where we can all be as we are.
May there be no need for any mask of pretence or image.
May our listening spaces be places of discovery
where the possibilities that sleep
in the clay of our souls emerge and shine.
May our listening deepen and refine our vision for all
that is yet to come to birth.
May the places we listen be spaces of courage,
where healing and growth are loved,
where dignity and forgiveness prevail;
and patience of spirit is prized.
And the sight of the destination is never lost
though the journey be difficult and slow.
May there be great delight in the deep listening
that can unfold.
May we offer a place of welcome
for the broken and struggling.
May we have the eyes to see
that no visitor arrives without a gift
And no guest leaves without a blessing.
Soooo,….. did you notice that there was no newsletter in your inbox last week? For the fall I’ll be experimenting with a bi-weekly newsletter instead of a weekly one, with an occasional extra email in between when needed. The aim continues to be to keep it fairly short, with a mix of practical and inspirational / educational. We’ll see how this goes.
Some items to note these two weeks:
VOLUNTEER GATHERING & EQUIPPING SESSION: Tuesday, Oct 17, 2024. Please mark your calendar and plan to come if you can for an in-person gathering of current volunteers for extra equipping, connecting and discussion. I’ll send more details on the content in the next email. Looking at the year ahead, we’re aiming for two in-person volunteer equipping times (October and June or July) and two times on Zoom while we have shorter days (January and April).
SPACE UPDATES: Now that we have the new floor installed, I’ll be working on the chairs and rug replacements. The black chairs are breaking down and a couple have been stored upstairs until we can get them to the dump. I’ll be looking for replacements that are sturdy, wipeable, and that hopefully don’t make it look like a waiting room.
THERMOS AND KETTLE: We now have one thermos each for herbal tea and black tea so you can make a pot of each to have hot tea ready. We also have been gifted a hot water boiler we’re trying out. This keeps hot water available for refilling the thermos or for individual drinks. Please unplug this at the end of your session.
FIRST AID BINS: I’ve added some requested items to our First Aid Kit. I’ve put these items in marked plastic bins over the sink.
OCTOBER RETREAT: I’ll soon start calling people on the list. Any new sign-ups can be added in the desk folder with my name on it.
To keep us all in the loop, I’m starting this weekly newsletter which I’ll schedule to send out on Thursday or Friday for the following week. We’ll try to include anything to note for the week and looking further ahead. We may include some short reflections for on-going inspiration or support. Please plan on having a read before you head in on your volunteer day that week. If you have suggestions or items to include in the newsletter, please email me at listeningpostjoy@gmail.com by Thursday. I know there’s a lot of good things happening in the DTES community but for now we’ll limit this post to information or reflections that directly relate to volunteering at the Listening Post.
Thank you, thank you for your good and important work of holding space for quiet and listening.
with gratitude for being on the team,
Joy
THIS WEEK:
Flooding: Because of the gap under the front door, water is coming in on very rainy days or if sidewalk cleaning sprays water that way. We are working with Ming to create a better water barrier. If you arrive to flooding please contact Joy right away.
Retreat Sign-ups: The LP Rivendell retreat is coming up March 10-15. We still have several slots to fill and are collecting names and phone numbers of folks that may be interested. Please write names in our log book (noting we remove them each week so contact information is guarded.) If you are unfamiliar with what happens on one of these retreats you are welcome to come check one out yourself or find out more info from someone on your volunteer team.
Stored Items: We’re going to be cleaning out items that are not being used by the Listening Post groups or that are unclaimed. If you know of anyone with personal items stored in the space please let them know they need to be removed this week.
Schedule: Given our volunteer capacity, the Oversight Committee decided to hold off on opening Wednesdays for the month of February (with the exception of Feb. 14). This means Joy and John are available for back up on other days. Please reach out if it’s looking like you may not have enough people to open on your day and we may be able to step in.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Women’s Memorial March: (Wednesday, Feb 14). We’ll be opening from 10:30 am through the afternoon and offering support and space for participants in the march. We will need extra volunteers to make this happen. If you can help out this day, please let Joy know. More details next week.
Vision and Values Clarification Workshop: We’d love you to join us on Thursday, March 7, 4:30-7:30, and again Thursday, April 4, 4:30-7:30, for a time of clarifying our values and vision for this next chapter of the Listening Post. Your input would be greatly valued. Please mark your calendars if you can make it. (More details coming in a separate email)
Rivendell Retreats: March 10-15, July 21-25.
AND A BIT MORE:
From Sally:
Tuesday afternoon we were visited by a Listening Post Volunteer Alumna from 2011; her name is Yuma. Currently she is working for Vancouver Coastal Health(VCH) and very involved in a new program called Vancouver Junction. This is a very complete, no barrier recovery program. I posted her business card on the bulletin board and I encourage each of us to look at the website. She was very enthusiastic and engaging. The programs are online and in Clinical Settings. Great variety of offerings and activities. And she was pleased-and surprised-to see that the cassette player she donated was still happily in use.
Numerous individuals tend to underestimate their aptitude in active listening. We often assume that our practice of active listening is evident, believing that others recognize that they are being heard.
However, the truth is that even as leaders, we frequently encounter challenges associated with active listening in tasks and roles. Being receptive to criticism, addressing individuals’ emotions, and attempting to comprehend others’ viewpoints all demand strong active listening abilities.
Despite our best intentions, it’s possible that we unconsciously convey signals indicating a lack of attention. If any of the following inquiries resonate with you, it might be worthwhile to refine your active listening techniques:
Do you occasionally find it difficult to focus on what’s being communicated, particularly when the speaker is venting, digressing, or engaging in gossip?
Are you more preoccupied with planning your response rather than truly absorbing the speaker’s message?
Do you feel uncomfortable when someone challenges your ideas or actions?
Do you tend to tune out when the speaker expresses a negative outlook?
Are you quick to offer advice and propose solutions to problems before the other person has fully conveyed their perspective?
Have you found yourself instructing people not to feel the way they do?
Do you tend to dominate the conversation, talking significantly more than the other person?
If you responded affirmatively to any of these queries, rest assured, you are not alone.
How to Enhance Your Active Listening Abilities
To improve your active listening skills, consider implementing the following techniques:
Minimize interruptions: Eliminate distractions such as technology and background noise to fully focus on the speaker. Observe their tone of voice and body language for additional cues.
Focus on the speaker: Concentrate on what the other person is saying, rather than formulating your response. Challenge yourself to repeat the last sentence the speaker uttered to stay engaged with each statement.
Embrace silence: Understand that you don’t always need to provide an immediate reply or comment. Pauses in conversation can offer an opportunity to gather your thoughts.
Promote the other person’s input: Encourage the speaker to share their ideas and solutions before offering your own. Strive for an 80% listening and 20% talking balance.
Reiterate key points: Summarize the main points you’ve heard and seek confirmation of their accuracy. A simple phrase like “Let me confirm if I understood you correctly…” can help clarify any potential misunderstandings.
Consider revisiting the topic: You can listen without necessarily agreeing with complaints or concerns. If it’s a matter worth addressing, suggest that the person jot down their thoughts along with potential solutions. Schedule a follow-up discussion for further exploration.
Active Listening Strategies for Leaders
Even when leaders demonstrate strong active listening skills, our research reveals that employees may still not feel heard if leaders fail to take action based on what they’ve heard.
Listening effectively is increasingly crucial for leaders in today’s dynamic environment, but it’s also more challenging due to factors like high job turnover and remote work, which lacks nonverbal cues. Leaders who fail to heed and respond to their employees’ concerns risk higher turnover, especially among top performers and frontline workers. Unfortunately, listening, though highly praised, is rarely explicitly taught, except in therapist training. Surprisingly, only 11% of accredited undergraduate business schools list “listening” as a learning goal, while 78% prioritize “presenting.”
Active listening comprises three dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. Becoming a better listener involves ongoing coaching and personalized guidance to understand one’s strengths, weaknesses, and habits. Simply reading an article won’t transform you into a champion listener, just as reading about balance won’t make you Simone Biles. Our goal is to enhance your comprehension of effective listening and provide research-backed advice to hone your listening skills.
Active listening encompasses understanding the other person’s communication, including emotions, and conveying interest and empathy. To improve your active listening, consider these nine tips:
– Repeat the last few words the other person said.
– Avoid rephrasing unless necessary for clarification.
– Use nonverbal cues if natural to you; otherwise, communicate your intention.
– Pay attention to nonverbal cues.
– Ask more questions than you think necessary.
– Minimize distractions, both external and internal.
– Acknowledge when you might not be at your best as a listener.
– Avoid rehearsing your response while the other person is talking.
– Monitor your emotions to prevent disengagement or defensiveness.
– Active listening is a complex skill with various subskills.
Evaluate your proficiency in these subskills to improve your overall listening abilities:
– Hearing: Address hearing loss openly and request accommodations.
– Auditory processing: Ask questions to clarify when struggling to understand.
– Reading body language and social cues: Seek help when necessary.
– Maintaining attention: Set intentions and control your environment.
– Regulating your emotional response: Practice meditation and grounding techniques.
– Integrating multiple sources of information: Identify what aids your listening.
– Performing active listening: Communicate your preferences and practice as needed.
Recognize that listening is vital, underappreciated, demanding, and especially challenging post-Covid-19. In these turbulent times, leaders should genuinely listen, grasp context, avoid generic responses, and acknowledge their own listening limitations. Show compassion for yourself and make adjustments where needed, rather than berating your own cognitive processes.
Dr. Gabor Maté on Trauma, Addiction, and Healing | The Mindspace Podcast #31 Watch Uploaded by: Mindspace Well-being, Jun 15, 2021
Gabor Maté was born in Budapest, Hungary, on January 6, 1944. His maternal grandparents were both killed in Auschwitz when he was five months old. His aunt disappeared during the war, and his father endured forced labour at the hands of the National Socialist German Workers Party. He emigrated to Canada with his family in 1956. He was a student radical during the Vietnam War era in the late 1960s and graduated with a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
After working as a high school English and literature teacher for several years, he returned to the University of British Columbia to obtain his M.D. in general family practice in 1977.
He argues “the war on drugs” actually punishes people for having been abused and entrenches addiction more deeply, as studies show that stress is the biggest driver of addictive relapse and behaviour. Maté’s approach to addiction focuses on the trauma his patients have suffered and looks to address this in their recovery. In his book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, Maté discusses the types of trauma suffered by persons with substance use disorders and how this affects their decision making in later life.
“Physician Gabor Maté’s professionalism and compassion have helped to restore dignity and health among people with addictions. An author, speaker and expert on addictions and trauma, he is well known for his belief in the connection between mind and body health, as well as for his innovative approaches to treatment. Notably, he worked with patients challenged by drug addiction, mental illness and HIV in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for over a decade. Throughout his career, he has been a passionate advocate for social change in the prevention and treatment of addiction.”
“Passion creates, addiction consumes.” — Gabor Maté, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
Now, Please Do Watch: “Dr. Gabor Maté on Addiction & Healing Mental Health – Video”
A father said to his daughter “You have graduated with honors, here is a Jeep I bought many years ago. It is pretty old now. But before I give it to you, take it to the used car lot downtown and tell them I want to sell it and see how much they offer you for it.”
The daughter went to the used car lot, returned to her father and said, “They offered me $1,000 because they said it looks pretty worn out.”
The father said, now “Take it to the pawn shop.” The daughter went to the pawn shop, returned to her father and said,”The pawn shop offered only $100 because it is an old Jeep.”
The father asked his daughter to go to a Jeep club now and show them the Jeep. The daughter then took the Jeep to the club, returned and told her father,” Some people in the club offered $100,000 for it because “it’s an iconic Jeep and sought by many collectors.”
Now the father said this to his daughter, “The right place values you the right way,” If you are not valued, do not be angry, it means you are in the wrong place. Those who know your value are those who appreciate you……Never stay in a place where no one sees your value.
From Left to right: Rev. John McILwraith, Pastor Christina Faith Dawson, and Pastor Kathy Stuart
All three of us featured in this picture pastored and sat on counsel @ Street Church over a stretch of 22 years. We where blessed in that space we knew to be The House of The Lord, many knew it to be Street Church, and if you go way back “The Hot Dog Church”
The current lead Pastor Christina Faith Dawson happened to re4ceive the salvation of God one day there. I was there, helping hold service. There was an alter call and she came up and I saw deliverance and salvation in one miraculous moment that day. I laughed for joy so hard I remember saying it truly is the joy of the lord because Christina was sobbing and stuttering and saying thank you to The Lord all at the same time, on the floor draped over kneeling upon alter and I was praying tongues in public which is not something I usually do, it was a loud and joyous event. I felt like I had to explain myself as to why I was rejoicing so much. I don’t know if she heard me or remembered me saying it, the deliverance was pretty intense and the groaning and the utterance coming from the holy spirit though her is something I remember and cherish. Oh the sweet release from years of trauma and bondage lifted, a life for ever changed, for the good, for his will, forever. Bless you sister.
Christina, Virgil, Kathy, Mike and still yet others have carried the torch and in this leg of the race, she and her supporting ministers kept a true and Holy fire burning in a sea of darkness, death, and despair the kind most I people I know across North America will not be able to comprehend.
Being where it was is divine, ironic, poetic and social justice, and many more things that are holy, noble, just, and loving and we all found each other there.
On the night of the fire I held Christina for a brief moment while she cried, in front if us firemen where battling the blaze, the red emergency lights of the firetrucks cast its red glow on us.
Virgil was pretty much speechless, all I could do was rub his back and look upon the fire with him, and Kathy too, speechless pretty much. I put out my hand and she took it and I held onto it for a few moments, our arms gently swinging together as we look on at the church we loved and cared for… There as well was Jenn and John Reilly, Herb Hulbert, Natalie Stevens, and Lloyd major. After a couple of hours I loaded some of us up in my car and we drove to McDonald’s to have a coffee / food to decompress and discuss what had just happened and to get away from all the smoke, it had given me a headache.
Some call us the “lower church” but we have the upper room.
This brings tears to my eyes as I write this because what a blessing it was / is to so many in need since 1993, and the blessing to have been able to still be standing with those who over the years where blessed to serve there and come to this intersection to live, to minister, and to walk in as much grace and victory we can as a witness to those who are dying that there is life beyond this one and even yet while they still yet “live”.
I am just now after a long time of not seeing it for what it is, and the blessing it is to have worked with our Alumni, in the spirit of Philadelphia, to do as we are asked, to perform Gods Chosen fast “To set the captives free” and do it with out price.
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6”
Since 1995
Randy Barentson Street Church Founder.
Legally “Street Church” is “The Downtown East Side Four Square Church.” See: foursquare.ca
@175 Hastings Street just off of Main Street, Street Church stood at the Gates of what the locals call the corner of “Pain and Wastings”.
Spiritually speaking the gates to Hell are found there by many. evil is not hard to find and evil makes it’s self easy to find. The oppressor and destroyer of souls by various means (poverty, pain, drugs, sex work etc.) certainly has a perch above these crossroads.
There is darkness and spiritual / human wickedness to be found there, amidst the trauma the broken spirits, broken souls, broken hearts, broken minds, broken dreams, broken pasts, and broken paths.
I received the baptism of fire @ Street Church back in February 2000. I had the holy spirit, I received the Lord as a child, alone “un churched”, and I knew him then but I was alone in it and drifted my own way most of the time. I called it the “Holy Haunting” He has never given up on me, never forsaken me and with out me realizing for a long time guiding and leading me to that point and still today.
In 1999 / 2000 I was at a crossroads when it came to my job, my way to expensive apartment, my lifestyle, and I started to pray and had God on my mind alot. I was about to loose all I had because I was giving up all I had.
I was approached by three people in conversation and street church or the “Hot Dog Church” was mentioned to me to check out. First night I went there I ended staying until past midnight in an all night prayer meeting.
After a month or so of serving there under Randy Barnetson… Fire! It came down and was poured over me, I felt my life be taken, I felt “myself” slipping away, I wanted to say to friends there call an ambulance the fist time it came upon me, but I could not say a thing, in retrospect it happened so suddenly. I was amazed more than anything. What came out of the fire was me after the first round of it. Refiners fire is what I am reminded of to seek and receive.
There is a rhyme and a reason for everything.
From now on I remember the fire that is and was @ Street Church. I thank The Lord for allowing me to see it this way. I know the difference between a Heavenly and Holy fire that ignites and cleanses a soul, that we are the church and no earthy fire can ever burn it (the Church) down, in my heart and in Heavens books Street Church lives for ever.
I thank God for these tears for it has reminded me yet again of my first Love which is our Father in Heaven. May the fire be always a blessing for us all, Amen!
“Randy Barnetson is with John McIlwraith. · John McIlwraith is a Grad of First Nations Bible College and has been appointed as the Pastor in charge on Monday nights at Street Church. Pray for John. He has a wonderful way with people and a strong faith. We are blessed to receive him as God’s gift to us!”
Service…
I do not know the actual number of hot Dogs where served at the hot dog church but it served I would venture to say at least 1.1 million. That does not include side dishes, meals, to go kits made up of every needful thing that could be given, as well as gifts given of the spirit and by the hands of men and women that simply showed up and found it a place to belong and call their home.
22 years on I still see people and remember I gave them one or many, many hotdogs, coffee, water etc. over the years, at street church, The Blue Bus, The Free Store, Potters Place mission, Out reach ministry. etc.
On the day I came to learn that Randy had passed on, I went to the church. Outside there where some old friends, brothers and sisters in the Lord. Kathy Stuart was there and she held me as I sobbed, I mean I sobbed so hard I was convulsing. After spending some time with those that where there I said I have to got to Costco. I was at about the Stadium Sky Train entrance located on Pacific Blvd. and some one behind me said “can you buy me a hot dog”.
I knew it was some one taller than me as the voice was behind and above me. I turn around to see a native guy. I started going through my pockets looking for some money. I did not have any one me and I said the man sorry I have no cash on me, God bless you. So I started to walk towards the Costco again , and then it hit me hey I have a debit card, and what is up with this random guy asking me for a hot dog of all things out of the blue? So I turned around and at first I did not see the man. So I walked quickly down the block and around a corner and I saw the man. I said hey I can get you a hot dog, I have a debit card with me. So as we started to walk together I said I am sorry, I am kind of outta sorts, a friend of mine just passed away, I am still shaken up by it.
The fellow says to me he too he lost a friend. What he said in specific I will keep private but what I can tell you it was something that I was suppose to hear, it related to my past and I then came to think that I was visited by an angle and was entertaining them unaware at first.
Back to service…
The first time I served (in a significant stretch of time) started in January / February of 2000. We used to serve coffee and toast in the mornings as well as dinner at night including providing the church for over night shelter to the homeless. We had a toaster that was a conveyor belt type. I remember pumping out dozens of loaves of toasted bread, I also remember the absolute mess of butter, peanut butter and jam, coffee, coffee creamer, sugar and juice all over the counters and the floors. We where kept busy that is for sure.
I was part of a ministry of young people and what we called ourselves was “WingNut Ministries”. I remember Daniel Whitting Stall opened up a bank account for it @ a CIBC out in Langley. When the debit card came in the mail he showed us the card and what the name on the card was. CIBC made a typo… The name on the card said Daniel “Shittingstall” LOL.
“WingNut Ministries” ran some thing called the “Blue Bus”. It was an old huge school bus painted blue. Randy Barnettson allowed us to park it on the Bible College dorms back lot. We rented the small store next door and used it as a wharehouse for food. Fred Myer the grocery chain in the states used to deliver a couple times of year a semi truck with a 40 foot container full of food.
Randy allowed me / us to take what we needed to put on a meal for mainly street youth on Granville Street. I did a good portion of the cooking. We had these huge metal pots the kind the army and prisons use to prepare meals. I would go through the shelves and pick out canned items to make what I called Chili or Stew that we put on rice. We used the stove at Street Church to make the rice and the chili. The pot was so big that I had to use all for burners and a sawed off wooden boat paddle looking spoon to stir it, and it took two or three guys to get it down the stairs and up into the back of the bus.
I also helped out with what Randy called “The Free Store”. We would welcome mostly single mothers to come into the store and pick up grocery items. The kids… I remember some of them delighted to see that Mom had picked up some Name brand Cereal for them. Not sure if any one of them noticed or cared that there was no french language labeling on them as it had all come from Fred Myer’s state side (Washington Sate). . Randy / us, we never gave anything in exchange for money or at any price.
I remember the moping, the bread runs, the unscripted unfolding of every day I was there and how everything all worked out and we always had enough of everything and when we did not @ the last moment who and what was needed just showed up, some way, some how. I used to (and still do to some extent) know and say we / I / this / needs this and this. I have faith for it so there was no question what ever was needed, it will come or work out, but the time, my anxiousness…
I used to say with relief, and amazement and a hint of exasperation “If it where not for the last minute things will not get done with God”. I know longer say or think that. I remember and will not forget I heard the Holy Spirit minister to me and I received this message: “There is never the last moment with God there is only perfect timing” It was one of the clearest things at that time I had heard from the Holy Ghost.
I just got the good goose bumps wiring this. Praise The Lord.
Those early experiences showed me that I was living and operating on wings and prayers.
The bible college dorm/s.
I also remember fondly the bible college dorm located at a old house on Hastings. The first one called “Genesis House” was the guys dormitory. We also It housed (in part) the bible college’s reference and book library. I remember the day we moved the library to the church as well. Sadly those works and I believe college records where lost in the fire.
At around the same time Street Church secured a second dormitory for the women attendant bible college. The House was named “Exodus House”. The house was lost to us in of all things a fire…
Part of the History of The Four Square Church was lost in the building fire (July 6th 2022) and that is a 1920’s-1930’s erra hand crafted pulpit used by Aimee Semple Macphersons, the founder of Foursquare.
What remains and continues on in love and service with me today.
Lloyd Major who graduated First Nations Bible College who I am happy to say is a licensed minister with us (FPECC) as well Jennifer Allan-Riley and her Husband John who served as assistants to Randy up until the day he passed.
These three are ordained ministers with FPECC.CA – The church that I am now leading with Bishop Daniel Debney. I am happy to see in them what The Lord and What Randy saw in them. God is good.
They can be seen in the following archived video by First Peoples Voices of a Tribute To Randy aired nationally in honour and in memorial of Randy Barnetson, serving and ministered in street church along side founder Randy Barnetson over many years and during his last days here with us @ Street Church.
More about Street Church’s founder:
Pastor Randy was saved during the Jesus People movement. He went to Bible college and was the youngest to graduate. He Pastored all over British Columbia, on the Reserves and that’s where he gained a heart for First Peoples. Moving to Vancouver, Randy had a disturbing wake up call one morning – a woman had overdosed and was left dead in front of his bus. He heard God speak to him to start a church for those struggling with drugs and homelessness.
“To Free the Captives
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to
undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break
every yoke? Isaiah 58:6
God’s Chosen Fast: A Spiritual and Practical Guide to Fasting
By Arthur Wallis
“In the day of your fast you . . . oppress all your workers” (or “exact all your labours,” KJV), God declared through Isaiah (58:3). Years later Christ said of the scribes and Pharisees, “They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matt.23:4), and this despite the fact that they were punctilious in the observance of their weekly fasts.
In this wonderful verse which is the theme of our chapter, God
reveals through Isaiah that the nature of the fast that He has chosen is the very opposite. It is not to bring men into bondage but to loose them from it; not to be an instrument of oppression but of liberation. If this word does not have a literal application for us who live in lands where there is little to be seen of the grosser forms of social injustice, it surely has an application in the spiritual realm.
Men are bound, not with steel chains or iron fetters, but with the invisible shackles of evil. They fight oppression which is not social but spiritual, even satanic.”
—————————————————————————————-
I am going to be hosting a Sunday night believers service for all those who want to come and gather in prayer, to check in and hold Street Church up. Bring your doubts, bring your tears bring your fears as well as well as your love and heart for Street Church’s Community. Vancouver has just had a great loss, as a DTES body of believers and ministers the grief is real, there is no shame or condemnation so please come. Let us not be scattered but come together seek the will of The lord for the future together.
Worship Leaders bring your harps :-), We will have coffee and tea etc.
Gary Mahy, a longtime friend of The Listening Post and a all around loved member of the DTES community has passed on.
On March 30th, 2021 we had a small / intimate memorial service for Gary. There will be a larger celebration of life in April.
He is truly remembered fondly. He was always helpful, humorous, a giver, not a taker and a shameless flirt 🙂
Truly there are so many good stories and memories re Gary that it seems a disservice to mention one or two here. If you knew Gary you more than likely have several good memories of this man.
He truly loved life and lived a life where he took less when he could have had more.
Randy Barnetson, pastor of Street Church passed on. His passing was on Friday in the early morning hours of October 9th, 2020.
Randy had a long term battle with diabetes and kidney failure. His exact cause of death is unknown at this time. It is thought he passed on peacefully to be with The Lord in his sleep.
Christina Dawson Speaking at Randy Barnetson’s Memorial
^^ Now you know Brother 🙂 ^^
Pastor Randy was saved during the Jesus People movement. He went to Bible college and was the youngest to graduate. He Pastored all over British Columbia, on the Reserves and that’s where he gained a heart for First Peoples.
Download Pictures and Video of Randy Barnetson’s Memorial Service October 11 2020. Held at Street Church.
The Lead Pastor of Street Church (Vancouver Foursquare Church) in the downtown eastside of Vancouver.
Also, the Director of First Nations Bible College with classes held at the same address. Classes start at 11:00am till 1:30pm from Tuesday to Friday, tuition-free. Dedicated to sharing the Good News about Jesus.
He attended Biola University, La Mirada, California for MA Intercultural Studies (left in 2013), Pacific Life Bible College, Surrey, British Columbia for BTh Theology (1997), Summit Pacific College, Abbotsford, British Columbia for a 3-year Bible Diploma (1976) and Princeton Secondary School (left in 1974)
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Merry Christmas and Every Blessing.
