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 and now includes a number of graphics. Please see the Resources page. In October 2025 Harold Rosen, the Education Committee Chair, along with Outreach Chair, Sherry Marceil, presented at the Province-wide Professional Development Day for BC Educators for a second year in a row; this time it was held at SFU. The Sharing Light: Multi-faith Resource Manual for BC Educators is always met with great enthusiasm by the those educators who attend the presentation.

  • The MFSC’s third Community Prayer Breakfast was successfully held in February 2026, focusing on young people, who presented on The Role of Youth in Humanity’s Well-Being . The enthusiasm generated by the young people suggests that future youth interfaith events will be organized and that networking amongst them has begun.

  • 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.

  • The BC Attorney General, Nikki Sharma accepted our offer to advise on new legislation concerning safeguarding places of worship. Members of the MFSC, along with other faith community representatives, met with the AG in February 2026 to discuss and review proposed legislation. On Monday March 9, the BC Provincial Government held a press conference announcing the new legislation that offers places of worship protection from violent and disruptive protests by new safe access legislation.

The MFSC Prayer Breakfast, Feb 16, 2026, was well attended at the Vancouver Baha’i Centre for Learning. Youth, ages 15 to 25, participated as the main presenters on the theme “The Role of Youth in Humanity’s Well-Being.”

Members of the Multi-faith Summit Council of BC met and spoke with Premier David Eby at the Premier’s Dinner in March 2025 at the Baitur Rahman Mosque, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at in Delta BC.

Community Prayer Breakfast - Building Our Communities with Love. Held at the John Volken Academy November 18, 2023.

This panel discussion was coordinated by Century House Seniors Association and New West Hospice, and focused on the diverse religious beliefs surrounding death and dying, plus what funeral or burial rituals are undertaken.

From left to right: Ria Renouf, Moderator; David Iwaasa,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Afzal Mangalji, Muslim; Dr. Laura Duhan-Kaplan, Jewish'; Dr. Kala Singh, Sikhi . Nov 8/23

Click Here to See the finding from the meeting.

Members of the Multi-faith Summit Council of BC gathered with other interfaith groups to meet with Tahil Sharma, Regional Director of North America for the United Religions Initiative, who explained the work of their global organization. Everyone had the opportunity to share what type of community work their respective organizations were involved i. Oct 16/22

Environment Subcommittee meeting with BC’s Minister of the Environment, George Heyman, to discuss the Climate Emergency. Sept 7/22