VANCOUVER, BC—Churches across the Lower Mainland and in Whistler can expect to be challenged in the coming months to work together to make a global impact for Christ when the Winter Olympics are held in B.C. in 2010.
“We will be looking for some sort of response in prayer and also in serving,” says Dave Carson, interim prayer leader of the Vancouver-Whistler Games Partnership.
Formed two years ago, the partnership brings together people representing a broad cross-section of churches, denominations, the private sector, non-profit and parachurch groups to develop a coordinated strategy for Christian outreach during the event.
Up to now, its work has been informal and preliminary—at a stage Carson calls “the foothills of planning and prayer.” But that is expected to change during the summer as leaders are elected who will begin the real work of gearing up for the Olympics.
Dave Wells, district superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada in B.C. and the Yukon, says it is incumbent on the entire Christian community to approach the Olympics in a spirit of cooperation.
“That will be respected by Vanoc [the Vancouver Olympic Committee],” says Wells, who has served at numerous international sporting events, including most recently as a chaplain at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
“They’ll recognize there’s a pretty large chunk of our community that’s prepared to serve in the following areas. If they get hit by 1,001 people with 1,000,001 ideas, they’ll have to backburner most of them.”
Christian participation at Olympic events occurs at two major levels. One involves organizers working through an interfaith group to meet the spiritual needs of athletes and others. The second involves the activities organized by the Christians themselves.
And as long as everyone obeys the rules, there are usually no problems. “Most organizers,” says Wells, “just want to be assured…somebody’s not out there doing overt things that are going to embarrass them.”
The Salvation Army, for example, is considering several options, such as a homestay program for athletes and their families, providing warming stations, water stations and an internet café.
“Perhaps we might take a lead role in one or two of those things, [and] in other things play a secondary supporting role,” says Vancouver spokesman Captain John Murray.
“We anticipate mission teams from around the world coming to this,” he adds.
One place where outside volunteers will be in great demand is the ski resort town of Whistler. “The [mindset here] is to have the best time of your life as quickly as possible,” says Chad Chomlack, pastor of Church on the Mountain, one of only four churches in the highly transient community.
Still, Chomlack foresees a real opportunity for long-term outreach. “I think we’re going to see more people come to work here for maybe a year or two, athletes will start training here, and that offers a very natural way to create really good conversation around Christ,” he says.
Carson says Christians will have the chance to hone their ministry skills at a major sporting event prior to the Winter Olympics—the World Firefighters and Police Games in Burnaby in June 2009.
“It’s going to be bigger than the Olympics, at least in terms of numbers,” he says, “because while 3,500 athletes will be coming in February 2010 to this area, I think about 10,000 athletes will be coming to the Burnaby-based games.”
Yet for all the potential for ministry the Olympics present, Wells cautions churches not to let their involvement become an end in itself.
“It can’t be viewed as a flash in the pan. It has to be seen as tying into the Church what was there before and what will be there after,” he says. “So you’re going to want to ensure the local Christian community has a strong sense of ownership, so that the residue after the fact is positive.”
