The Danish Lutheran Church of Vancouver, B.C.

Pastor’s Report

If you are wondering what the picture on the front page is, it is the remains of the main entrance of ‘Børsen’ that burnt down on the 16th of April. When I was in Denmark for part of my summer vacation, I took the picture because on the 26th of September – on the day of the 400-year jubilee of the building – His Majesty King Frederik X laid the first stone to the new foundation. To me the building and the picture testifies to the fact that out of chaos something good can always grow. Like a phoenix. Another example of this is Notre Dame which reopened on the 7th of December following its fire on the 15th of April 2019.

I would not say that the same kind of chaos has hit our church, yet every organization has struggled after the Covid lockdowns, and besides that struggle we also lost and gained both new volunteers and employees following the lockdowns. Our church has not been on fire physically, but maybe it has been on fire mentally. We have also seen a lot of changes to our organization due to the generous donation from Granly.

I have been here for two years now, and I am oh so happy to see how we despite this ‘fire’ have kept rebuilding in the past two years, and that our effort in this is beginning to bear fruit. Not every change we have tried has been a success, but due to the ‘fire’ change has been necessary, and hence any attempt – success or not – we have seen has been a step in the right direction. A step in the direction of rebuilding. Also, not every change has come as fast as we would have hoped, but change is happening, and that is a blessing.

During the month of December one of my biggest fears was whether we would have a Lucia Concert or not. Many of our choir singers got too old to sing in the choir during the lock downs, and with no new kids joining either, not only the life of the choir – but the Lucia choir as well – was hanging by a thin thread. Not only did we have a Lucia Concert but it was also a huge success, and to me this truly is an example of how we despite our ‘fire’ are rebuilding for the better. Rebuilding for the future.

Carsten Mølgaard Hansen, Pastor | pastor@danishchurch.vancouver.bc.ca

Pastor Carsten Hansen 6

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