Network building
While denominations continue to play a key role in connecting churches, increasingly people of faith are collaborating for other reasons which Citygate recognizes and nurtures. These reasons include:
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- Context: Most of the networks we are developing are within Metro Vancouver. Forming city networks allows for face to face communication and greater collaborative effort. The Coalition around Reimagining Church, Land and Community is a national effort with regional conferences.
- Crises: Certain of our networks have emerged as churches and groups respond to critical needs such as increasing poverty in schools, refugees, isolation, unaffordable housing, etc.
- Creative Work: Our collective networks around Recovering the Art of Neighboring and The Bell (Public Theology writers’ group) have arisen because of the individual creative responses emerging in our city.
Forming networks is a way to resource ongoing collective impact. Collective impact is the added transformational effect that results from working together with other churches and groups.
Canadian Coalition for Reimagining Church, Land and Community
The aim of the Canadian Coalition for Reimagining Church, Land and Community is to catalyze the conversation around church properties to activate churches and denominations to be theologically reflective and proactive around the land and buildings in their stewardship.
Toward the implementation of these priorities, Citygate (along with David Kupp) brought together 30 people active in this sector in 2023 and has since held two conferences: Vancouver 2024 and Toronto 2025. For more information, resources and videos from these events, go to the website dedicated to this network: reimagineclc.ca And make plans to join us for Halifax 2026!
Churches Welcoming Refugees
This network connects churches, agencies and individuals together for the support and care of refugees through resourcing, equipping, collaborating and advocacy.
This network began with a gathering of over 100 people in February, 2023 who met to learn how to better support refugee claimants by working together. The gathering was organized by Citygate and hosted by four agencies (Kinbrace, Journey Home, Dena Nicholai/CRC and Inasmuch) and two churches (Tenth and St. John’s) formed a network that has since hosted two gathering via zoom and two in-person gatherings. We have held multiple gatherings since then, including over 80 people who gathered in 2024 to explore how we could create more short-term, transitional and long-term housing. Plan to join us for Welcome Church Day on Saturday October 25th.
Serve our Schools
The aim of this network is to build collaboration among organizations working with schools to alleviate poverty and enhance education in partnership with churches.
In October 2023, four organizations hosted a gathering for church leaders to introduce and invite them to a vision of partnership with schools. This event was attended by 40 people from twenty different churches. After that event, a network was formed to foster the collaborative efforts of these organizations and to build out these partnerships with schools and churches.
You can read more about this network here (article from Church for Vancouver). Join us for our upcoming event on Thursday September 25th and learn how your church can “adopt a school” with one of these organizations.
The Bell: A Network of Christian Writers
The aim of this network is to offer a public voice to a variety of Christian writers, addressing key issues our society is facing both here in Vancouver and beyond. Towards this end, Citygate has gathered more than 20 writers/leaders to write into the public sphere. Read more about this network here.
Metro Vancouver Alliance
Citygate is a member of the MVA and offers leadership for this broad-based organizing effort. MVA brings together faith communities, labor unions, educational institutions and community groups to build organizational collaboration and strength; enact listening campaign leading to research and action bringing change in government policies and practices; offers trainings for member organizations to equip their own members as leaders.
Citygate Board Member Audrey Guay is the chair of the MVA board chair and Tim Dickau is co-chair of the strategy team. You can learn more about MVA here. Join us for our annual assembly on Wednesday September 16th at 7 pm at St. Thomas More High School.
Network for Neighboring
This network emerged following a conference hosted by Citygate about Reimagining Home (See video of that event here). The aim is to gather, equip and support those who desire to be intentional in loving their neighbors and forming local community. Citygate believes that this effort lies at the base of not only addressing social isolation but that it is the sprout from which neighborhoods can grow to become more caring and just.
To get involved in this network, consider joining the course that we are offering starting in October 2025.