Our vision for Boundless is Deep Life. Wide Love. God is calling us into the center of His life where we can all be heard, known, and loved. This form of community is porous. There are invitations to welcome us in. There are commissions to go and demonstrate God's love to our neighbours. At the heart of our community is a weekly gathering of people from all walks of life.

We meet @ 10:30am on Sundays in the basement chapel @ 998 E. 19th Avenue (Vancouver First Church of the Nazarene)

👋🏼 Welcome - A short introduction to Boundless Vancouver as a Community of Hope. We belong in Hope, with Help to find our Home in God.

🎶 Worship - Songs are sung, prayers are prayed. We take time to direct our attention upwards to God, inwards to our deep desires, and "withwards" in unity.

💗 Hope Story - A community member may share their journey of hope and why they belong in Boundless Vancouver.

📖 Word - We will explore God's message for us today as a particular community in a particular place and time.

🤲🏽 Ministry- We respond to The Holy Spirit through a time of personal reflection and praying for each other's needs and hopes.

🍜 Fellowship - You're invited to bring food to share and cultivate a real community that really knows each other through shared life. (Currently on hold for pandemic considerations).

Social Isolation can be difficult. Meeting with one or two others can have an enormous effect on your walk with Jesus:

• FaceTime, Text or call other church members or read the Scripture and pray together.
• Check on your neighbours to see if they need any help or care. Take church out of the building and bring it to life for others!
• Head out for a prayer walk in the neighbourhood and discover what God is saying and doing. Please tell us about it here!
• Join us at our monthly Family Night!

Sept, 8, 2021

I want to address what is happening this Sunday. We've made major moves for everyone at Boundless Vancouver. It hasn't been easy for everyone impacted with moving food, changing locations and flipping schedules. But there is a big reason why we are doing this.

(If you don't want to read the whole thing - we are meeting in person on Sundays at 10:30 AM at 3213 Fraser Street. I want to gather everyone in Boundless Vancouver ministries to join us.)

From the beginning, Boundless Vancouver has wanted to be the loving community ❤️ for those accessing The Salvation Army for food and other resources. So we had the vision, Deep Life. Wide Love. which cultivates spiritual and emotional health for those we serve and gather.

We had a cool space in Mount Pleasant that was really affordable, but we lost that during the pandemic. This positioned us to begin meeting in our Multipurpose room at 3213 Fraser Street. It is way more invitational for our neighbours and volunteers: "Want to join us here on Sunday for worship, prayer and a message?" In addition, it will enable us to involve our congregation more fully in our Infinitum posture of mission. Ultimately, moving to in-person worship on Fraser Street accelerates our mission statement, "We welcome neighbours into a community of HOPE."

Please join us for our first in-person meeting since we went online this Sunday, Sept 12 at 10:30 AM - 3213 Fraser Street. This is a soft launch where we will be figuring out a new space, who is coming back and who is called to join in God's mission. God gave me a message for the community this Sunday - Wilderness & Promise: Tales of a Church Plant(er). I'll be sharing my biggest mistakes and how God has worked through us while he has us on the border of the promised land! So here is the message - "if you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?" We have the chance to a new season at Boundless Vancouver in realizing a holistic, integrated community in mission. No gimmicks, no performance, just real people gathering to meet with God.

We will have our new Youth Ministry intern, Neilan, who you will want to meet. Weather dependent, he will bring the children with Jael and Zoë to Robson Park (we have a lot of setup for kids to do). Also, please pray for another intern position to be filled and for discernment in hiring a Youth & Family Ministries coordinator.

Now, a little note about COVID - we have been taking our lead from the health authority and obeying all orders (we will continue to do so). You do NOT need a vaccine passport to come into The Salvation Army or worship. However, we are required to wear masks when we are together unless leading from the front (and then, physically distanced). We have PPE and will have the place sanitized before you come. At this time, we cannot serve coffee or a meal afterwards, so I recommend that smaller groups fellowship on Sunday after our gathering. Let's mark it as a special day of new life - together (Anyone wants to watch the Dolphins vs. Patriots with me???).

Now - you have read a bunch - probably more than you expected about this major step for our church. No longer separate social and spiritual missions - we join in celebrating the Boundless life Jesus gives us. This is always in anticipation of the fullness of God... Here - but - Not Yet! Rather than expect perfection out of each other or what happens, expect to join us wholeheartedly. That is, we are doing our best with the capacity and resources that we have. God has given us an abundance, and we overflow from that. If you are feeling tired, worn-out and empty - you need to come for a fresh outpouring of The Holy Spirit. If you are excited and feeling warm about coming together, we need you there to lavish your welcome on our congregation and neighbours.

I'm going to sign off with this scripture that calls our congregation to have the same mind and attitude as Jesus - surrendered, generous and missional. 

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Philippians 2:1-11 (ESV).

You may have more things to talk about or discuss. Please email me. I'm fully booked this week to set things up for this Sunday, but I'll be sure to read my email, and you can always book a time with me at www.byvr.life/booking 

Grace, Peace and Love,

Jonathan

March 18, 2021

"There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about." – Margaret J. Wheatley

Even with Dr. Bonnie Henry hinting that there will be an opportunity for in-person religious gatherings, our community has weighed in. We are not yet ready. This is a compassionate and reasonable response. We are not fearful but careful and hopeful. The new strains of COVID seem to be more infectious, and many people have either contracted the virus or know someone recently who has been exposed to COVID. We want to make the best decisions for everyone, with special consideration for those most vulnerable (1 Cor 12:21-26).

What we heard is that most people were feeling glad about a return (40 %). Others are angry or anxious (25%). Most people will return right away (67%), but most of us are not sure, will wait and have concerns (67%). We have to hold these tensions together and provide understanding and care for everyone. It seems that when there is a potential return, our community is discerning that meeting outdoors is a natural first step (67%) and that the preferred location is near our community ministries office (59%).

This is because Boundless Vancouver is called to be a missional church. God is asking us to reach people where they are at and where we share a lot of life. Positioning ourselves where we can encounter neighbours and invite them into a community of hope is important to us all. Regarding our times, 78% of our people agree that Sunday mornings are not the best time to gather in-person. We need to respect and figure this out for 3 families that responded that Sundays are essential for them. At this time, we are not moving away from our Sunday morning gatherings until we can present a comprehensive plan for our mission and worship. This will likely coincide with our proposed renovations.

Click to view all the SURVEY RESULTS! Here you will find all the anonymous responses and helpful comments to hear what each member is experiencing and try to discern what The Holy Spirit is saying through His people.

Feel free to reach out and let me know where you are at and what you're looking towards.

Peace,

January 14, 2021

"Commit your way to the Lord" - Ps 37:5a

People talk about a new normal. Some expect things to just get back to the way things were. I believe firmly that the Lord is preparing us to be more effective missionally and as a community through the pandemic. May God's ways be our ways as we surrender our best laid plans before him.

Here are some ideas:

• Online Access. Our Tuesday and Thursday devotions and prayer are more accessible than ever because we've gone online. When we resume in person meetings, we will still be putting things out there for those who can't be there physically.
• Going underground. Small groups, Prayer Walks, Disciples initiating their own Bible Studies and groups are happening. We don't record or control these things... but they are happening. We expect more.
• Church Partnerships. Many of us are jumping in and out of other church's prayer and missional opportunities. We are a community of communities and encourage interchange, worship, prayer and mission with many other Christians.

Do you have any ideas of how we may adapt to be better at prayer, discipleship, evangelism and service? Contact me to let me know how!

Grace,

Jonathan

November 7, 2020

I want to share some thoughts and updates with you in light of the COVID pandemic.

First, this has been a real challenge for our church. Some of the things that our congregation held dearly like sung worship and in-person gathering are not possible. There has been grief and disillusionment as a result. Our community ministry involvement and volunteers have increased and this has taken much of our thought and planning. Where you sow is where you reap and consequently our congregation has shrunk. Our hope in integrating community ministries and our congregation does not yet have a specific plan beyond invitation to participate and pray. We continue to consider our Conversation Day and discern what we can do. There will be a follow up in late January where we can imagine specific and attainable actions out of our hopes.

Right now, what we really care about is that people are not prey to worldly pursuits, the enemy's schemes and temptations of the flesh. We require new ways to reach out and meet to care for your soul. In addition to text messages, online meetings, emails and some in-person coffees, we want to figure out how we can keep the flock together and safe (1 Peter 5:2).

After Christmas, expect our pastoral team to be reaching out and seeing how you would best like to be cared for and contributing to the community. There are online, small weekday in-person, volunteering, prayer walking and other options we would like to explore. If you have an idea that we should reach out with. Please CONTACT US.

If you need pastoral care, a friendly visit or some prayer requests, please reach out. We are trying to touch base with as many people as possible but we know that can't be one-sided. Besides, it feels good to be approached.

Lastly, and most importantly, thanks to those who have encouraged, prayed, stepped up and blessed Carla and me during COVID. Our hope remains strong in God despite the discouragement and stresses we have constantly faced. We are not alone because of your love and prayers.

In His Grace,

Jonathan

Sept 7, 2020

It seems important to again provide an update on the coronavirus pandemic and our response at Boundless Vancouver.

We have been reading the news, getting instructions from headquarters and prayerfully considering precautions to keep our congregation safe. It hasn’t been appropriate to communicate until this time where community infections are now taking place in the Lower Mainland. The spirit among our staff is one of calm and of confidence in God’s control. We believe that at this time God will use us to bring strength and life to our neighbours and family.

The situation is concerning, but concern is not the same as fear. We don’t want to be reactionary nor do we want to be careless. We simply want to be alert and do all we can to create a safe practices for worship. Taking precautionary measures is an act of love for our church family and community.

I have observed two things from this situation:

1) We all have different comfort levels about sickness: some people are very conscientious about not spreading germs and others never give it a second thought. Let’s live wisely, healthily and be gracious with each other.

2) We all have various levels of knowledge regarding this virus. Some of us have been following reporting on it intensely for a month or more while others of us are just now becoming aware of it, and may even think there is a lot of hype. We are all at different stages and responding accordingly.

Lastly, this is a time to consider HOPE. Our hope has always been in Jesus, but over time our tendency can be to misplace our hope in people, government, doctors, the economy, or elsewhere. These times can be alarming and we can learn about our own internal environment. Let’s take each mention of coronavirus to say a prayer. Yes, let’s do our best to stay healthy and safe, AND let us put our full hope in Jesus. It’s a wonderful time to share the hope we have in Christ with how we talk and live.

With Grace,

Jonathan

Jonathan Evans - Ministry Team Leader

Preventative Measures

We have been designated an essential service by the province of British Columbia. That means at this time we are still open, working with volunteers to get food to those who need it the most during these times. The health and safety of our neighbours and congregation are a top priority and doing our part with preventative measures can lessen the impact of this virus. We are making the following adjustments:

Recommended Practices

We encourage everyone to help prevent spreading any virus by following these BCCDC recommended hygiene practices:

• Practice social distancing at all times.
• Please stay home when you are sick (10 days consecutively).
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Sing the chorus of Waymaker while you wash your hands. 🙌🏼
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Greeting

We are avoiding handshakes and hugs and instead, greeting each other with a simple a wave. At this time it is best to not take “Greet each other with a Holy kiss” literally.

Cleaning

We will be cleaning and disinfecting doors and surfaces at our ministry office. Due to the lack of hand sanitizer, we ask you to kindly bring some with you.

Additional Links

• World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019)
• Government of Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html)
• B.C. Centre of Disease Control (http://www.bccdc.ca/about/news-stories/stories/2020/information-on-novel-coronavirus)
• Vancouver Coastal Health (http://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/vancouver-coastal-health-statement-on-coronavirus)