Accomplishments or Success Stories

•  The MFSC has created a space where religious communities can discuss and address core issues of concern to British Columbians and have demonstrated that people from diverse spiritual traditions can come together in the spirit of collaboration to work on these issues.

• We have established ourselves as an organization with diverse membership that can speak with a single voice to government and society and over few years, have provided an opportunity for council members from diverse faith traditions to participate in public panel discussions on various topics.

• We have represented a powerful witness to the common good in British Columbia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council attended monthly phone in conference calls with the Ministry of Health and the Public Health Authority, which provided accurate and timely information, as well as answers to questions regarding regulations and the vaccination program; this information was then dispersed directly to the member organization’s communities. 

• We have met with the BC Ministry of the Environment to discuss the Climate Change Emergency facing British Columbians today. Recently, the MFSC sent a letter challenging the BC Government to meet their goals for water and land conservancy, while challenging people of faith across the province to become educated in the tenets of their own faith regarding Environmental Stewardship in order to more effectively mobilize on the Climate Crisis. For an update on this issue, please see EVENTS.

• The inaugural All-Party Interfaith Caucus was successfully launched twice in 2023. The first topic was the Role Faith in Society and the second topic was The Relevance of Preserving Religious Freedom. The recordings are uploaded to the Council’s YouTube channel. The APIC, held in June 2024, focused on Scientific Advancement & Spiritual Commitment: Finding Balance for the Sake of Humanity. The 2025 APIC is scheduled for June 5th with the topic of Effecting Social Change: How to Foster a Spirit of Collaboration (see the events page). To review past events, please visit the Council’s YouTube Channel.

• The Education Committee, met the criteria laid out by the Ministry of Education for compiling a World Religions Resource Manual for BC Educators that will support Social Studies courses; the manual was not to contain proselyting material and it was to be inclusive of all faith traditions of BC. The overarching purpose is to promote the positive contributions of people of faith and to reduce hatred and intolerance. The compilation of the resource manual, although considered a living document, has been uploaded to this website for public use. Please see the Resources page. In October 2024, members of the Education Committee, Harold Rosen and Susie Virk, along with Council Chair, Sherry Marceil presented at the Province-wide Professional Development Day for BC Educators, held at UBC. The Sharing Light: Multi-faith Resource Manual for BC Educators was met with great enthusiasm by the those present, who ultimately formed a vetting committee to review and process the resource manual. It is not vetted and uploaded to the ShareEdBC site.

• The Council held their first Community Prayer Breakfast in November 2023. The theme was “Building Our Communities with Love.” Dialogue questions came from the Education Committee and the Environment Committee. The event was enjoyed by all who attended. The Second Annual Community Prayer Breakfast was held November 2024. The theme was Renewing Humanity’s Bond With Nature. Flossie Baker of the Sierra Club BC was the keynote speaker. Small group discussions focused on sharing tenets of faith on the matter of Environmental Stewardship. This event was a springboard to the World Interfaith Harmony Week 2025 events. Please see the Events page. Everyone who attended enjoyed the event.

• The Health & Spiritual Care Committee has turned up some advisory opportunities in the community and is in need of expanding their committee to have a diverse representation from the council to cover these advisory opportunities. Fraser Health Authority hosted a diverse cross-section of our members to consult regarding their Brain Death Policy. The issue of unifying accessibility for pastoral/ministerial visits to people in the hospital around the province is one current focus of the Health & Spiritual Care Committee.

• A recent meeting with the BC Attorney General focused on (1) Anti-Racism Initiatives, (2) improving legislation to offer better protection and a buffer zone around places of worship and other gathering places for people of faith, (3) establishing cremation laws to better serve the ritual practices of different faith communities, (4) receiving the data on the Racism Incident Hotline, and (5) accessing the link to government resources to support essential funeral costs of those in poverty. The AG accepted our offer to advise on new legislation. We also promoted support of Restorative Justice where appropriate, and requested support to stop the amendment to the Canadian Income Tax Act to redefine Charity that would effectively remove any organization that promotes religion from the privileged class of Charitable Status. Please see the News page.