Coordinated by Fusion Canada, teams have partnered with churches in Victoria, Kelowna, Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver, Coquitlam and Vancouver communities Mt. Pleasant and Grandview-Woodlands.
"Open Crowd festivals" are unique in that they are fairly simple but intended to rebuild the bridges in communities where increasingly Canadians are becoming more and more isolated. One of the member of the B.C. Fusion team, Heather Robertson, says "I love the festivals because they put the church where it belongs in the heart of the community".
Jason Uher from World Harvest church in Richmond, Vancouver, says, "I love the way that Fusion has helped Richmond churches work together. We are connecting like we never have before and I hope we can keep working together like this".
Major Dave Grice of Victoria Citadel, a church of The Salvation Army, says "we are very grateful for the Fusion team coming over to Victoria. They showed us just how easy it is to build real connections in this community".
The festivals team were also doing training through the two weeks and on Saturday evening, all 100 graduated with the inaugural Canadian "Introductory Certificate of Community Transformation".
Fusion originated in Australia and has been in Canada for 7 years. The organisation recently entered into a partnership with Taylor seminary (based in Edmonton) to deliver its training in the Americas. President of Taylor, David Williams says "What I am seeing with Fusion is unique. Their very practical and integrated approach to faith helps the church engage with its community in ways that bring hope and lasting change".
Member of Fusion's International leadership team, Matt Garvin, says "The Olympics have been a special opportunity for the Church in Vancouver. Many congregations have taken advantage of the moment and have built significant connections with their communities in lots of different ways".
"Our experience in other Olympics is that there will be a danger now that churches will retreat back to the status quo and that the fruit of the work will diminish."
"The experience from other places also shows, for those who maintain the connections they have built and keep looking for ways to engage their community, the Olympics will have been a moment that will have catapulted them forward."
Fusion is part of the More than Gold network of ministries who partner at major sporting events.