On November 19th, 2011 the Columbian Centre Society hosted it’s first Peers & Bugers evening at the Harewood Arm Pub. This fun evening included a Silent Auction and several 50/50 & meat draws. At the end of the day Columbian Centre Society came away with $1425.00.
Thank you for supporting this event and we hope you had fun at this event. Keep an eye on the events page for future Peers & Burghers evening and other fun events.
Linda Fossen says that she, and over eighty other children, suffered extreme abuse at Canada’s oldest Bible school
Linda Fossen, a former student at the Prairie Bible Institute near Three Hills, Alberta, has alleged that she and dozens of other children were abused by PBI staff from the 1950s to as recently as five years ago. The explosive claim made headlines in Canada and abroad.
Linda first wrote about her experiences of abuse and recovery in a book called “Out of the Miry Clay” in 2008 and she shares her past and present experiences online. She reports that the victims of the abuses are too terrified to speak out about them. Linda also writes that some of the people who support the Bible college have lashed out against her, praying against her as a so-called “enemy of God”. Linda has established an on-line petition related to the allegations. (more…)
A generation’s future could include more crime, drug use, teen pregnancies, poor health and failure at school and work
Could British Columbia be the very last province to enact a plan to fight poverty? That’s the question asked by BC Campaign 2000 in its latest report card on child poverty [opens to PDF]. Statistics show that the child poverty rate in B.C. rose from 14.5 percent in 2008 to 16.4 percent in 2009. The B.C. rate was only slightly lower than the Manitoba rate of 16.8 percent and was much higher than the national rate for all ten provinces of 14 percent. (more…)
Women are more likely to request counseling, but when men do seek help, they tend to have difficulty with the process
Dr. Wray Pascoe, a family therapist and human systems consultant from Manitoba, says research has found that women request counseling on a five to one ratio over men and that practitioners say men are more difficult to engage and more likely to terminate treatment early. Men, in general, have difficulty with the psychotherapeutic process, he says.
Wray Pascoe will be in Nanaimo later this month at the invitation of Nanaimo Men’s Resource Centre. Workshops will be offered on November 24, 25 and 26, 2011, on the topics of “Counseling Men Effectively” and “Exploring Male Sexuality.” (more…)
Occupy Nanaimo is staying put at its downtown location for now, as members hold talks with the city and police
While big-city mayors and police are engaged in various stages of trying to remove Occupy protesters from their public spaces, Nanaimo representatives of the Occupy movement have been meeting with the mayor and RCMP to discuss issues of concern—from both sides. Matthew O’Donnell told The Daily News that concerns expressed by the city will be discussed among the occupiers and that another meeting is planned for next week. (more…)
David Weekley’s “journey in from the wilderness” continues as he and others face institutional efforts to exclude them
Rev. David Weekley stepped into the pulpit of the Epworth United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon in 2009 to share his story as a transgender person for the first time. After he spoke, the congregation burst into applause. Earlier this year, David shared his experiences in a book called “In from the Wilderness.”
David is a transgender man and an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church who quietly served his congregations for twenty-eight years before sharing his full personal story and spiritual journey with his congregation, denomination, and the world. But the struggle for inclusion of transgender people continues, as the United Methodist Church prepares for a debate about “compatibility” with Christianity. (more…)
