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| What Is Community Ministry?
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In the Thick of Things
A community minister is one who has chosen to build community by working in the community rather than in a parish church. There are four community ministries in Canada, of which two are in the greater Vancouver area. "Community ministers work to better their own small communities by doing such varied things as creating peace gardens, running retreat centres, or managing non-profit organizations such as Amnesty International or the Unitarian Service Committee."
One of Vancouver's community ministers is Reverend Laura Imayoshi. Unitarians have a rich history of community ministry, going where parish ministers were not willing to go. Please read Rev. Imayoshi's sermons included on this page for a fascinating look at the history of community ministry.
Rev. Imayoshi is currently an Outreach Worker with the Inner City Women's Initiative Society, an agency that has been serving HIV+ women and women at risk in the Downtown Eastside for 15 years. She does just about everything, including serving meals, coordinating volunteers, and visiting patients on the HIV+ ward at St. Paul's Hospital.
Rev. Imayoshi's ministry has been formally endorsed by the Unitarian Church of Vancouver but she is not paid or employed by the church.
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| Reverend Laura Imayoshi
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Rev. Laura Imayoshi was raised attending the Unitarian Church of Vancouver. She did her undergraduate work in Religious Studies at UBC and her post graduate work at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. Laura trained extensively with the Faithful Fools, an interfaith street ministry in San Francisco. She brought their humour, wisdom and inspiration to Vancouver to start serving in the streets as a Unitarian community minister.
In 2007, Laura was ordained by the Unitarian Church of Vancouver. Since 2008, she has worked as an Outreach Worker with Inner City Women’s Initiative Society, serving marginalized women in the Downtown Eastside. Laura is a member and an affiliated community minister with the Unitarian Church of Vancouver.
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| Sermons by Rev. Imayoshi
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