Harbour Community

Harbour Community We are a community living to saturate Nanaimo with the Gospel. We empower lives of mission.

I am a bad listener. I am constantly fighting the internal urge to respond, to butt in, to fix a problem, or to make eve...
06/22/2026

I am a bad listener.

I am constantly fighting the internal urge to respond, to butt in, to fix a problem, or to make everything right.

If we are honest, most of us do this. When someone we love shares a frustration, a hurt, or a mess, our default Western instinct is to offer a silver lining or a quick solution. We want to tidy up their problem so that we can feel more comfortable.

But true community doesn't fix people. It bears burdens.

Think of the ancient story of Job. When his life fell apart, his three friends came and sat in the dirt with him in silence for seven days, simply holding space for his grief. It was only when they opened their mouths to fix his theology and explain his problems that everything went south.

This week, we are practicing the quiet art of the un-hurried pause. We are letting go of our need to be the "fixer" and learning how to enter someone else's space with an open heart.

Try out this week's relational micro-rhythms with us:
💬 The Validating Echo: Mirror back someone’s emotional reality instead of offering a quick solution.
🎴 The Burden Swap: Write down your heaviest anxiety on a card with a trusted circle, swap them, and carry each other’s weights for seven days.

Check out the full reflection here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/bearing-burdens-the-art-of-listening/! 🌿

"It smells awful for a brief moment, but exposure to the open air and the light is the only thing that can actually stop...
06/15/2026

"It smells awful for a brief moment, but exposure to the open air and the light is the only thing that can actually stop the decay."

This week at Harbour, we are talking about the liberating practice of coming clean. We are stepping past the curated kitchen counters of our lives to look at what happens when we bring our actual, messy realities into the light of a safe community.

The beautiful promise of the table is that our mess isn't just discarded—in the hands of a loving Creator and a safe community, it actually composts into rich soil that brings new depth and life to everyone around us.

Check out the blog for this week's full reflection, and try out our two micro-practices this week: The Safe-Room Inventory and The Micro-Admission.

📖 Read the full post here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/the-ministry-of-the-unhidden-coming-clean/

🌿

Have you ever noticed how exhausting it is to always pretend you have everything completely sorted out?Our culture tells...
06/13/2026

Have you ever noticed how exhausting it is to always pretend you have everything completely sorted out?

Our culture tells us to keep a pristine exterior—to show up to work, to school, and even to friendships with a smiling mask, a tidy house, and the perfect "I'm doing great" answer. We treat our actual struggles, anxieties, and mistakes like a kitchen scrap bin: we seal the lid tight, push it into the corner, and desperately hope no one ever peeks inside.

But keeping the lid sealed tight doesn't fix the mess. It just isolates us.

We believe that deep, life-changing relationships don't happen when we pretend to be perfect. They happen when we move down to our roots... especially when we are not at our best.

This Sunday morning at 9:30 AM, we are gathering for The Messy Table, and the invitation is entirely for the unhidden.

We are exploring what it looks like to build a truly Healing Community. A space where you don't have to audit your thoughts before you speak, where your questions are welcomed, and where your struggles don't disqualify you—they just make you human.

Because real, honest conversations belong in ordinary life, we are gathering around a massive Sunday brunch table.

If you are running on empty this week, if you are deconstructing old religious boxes, or if you are simply lonely and looking for a group of genuine people to share a real life with here in Nanaimo, you have a seat at this table. No prerequisites. No performance required.

☕ Want to join us for brunch this Sunday? We would love to host you. Drop a comment below or slide into our DMs, and we’ll send you the address and details!

How many times a week do you answer the question "How are you?" with the word "fine" or "busy"?We use those words as a s...
06/08/2026

How many times a week do you answer the question "How are you?" with the word "fine" or "busy"?

We use those words as a shield. They are polite, acceptable ways to keep people from actually knowing our reality.

This week for our "Messy Table" theme, we are practicing The Honest Update. When someone asks how you are, give them a genuine, one-sentence answer. It doesn't have to be a deep confession; it can simply be, "I'm actually feeling a bit overwhelmed today," or "I'm running on empty."

To build an honest community, we have to let people see our actual reality.

📖 Read our full Week 2 reflection here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/the-messy-table-enemy-of-idealism/

If there is one thing we are learning as we kick off June, it’s that the best parts of community are almost always unpla...
06/05/2026

If there is one thing we are learning as we kick off June, it’s that the best parts of community are almost always unplanned.

This week, our ordinary afternoon at the park turned into an impromptu dinner with a local family from the neighbourhood. No curated menus, no spotless house; just shared space, listening, and a chance to connect over the mess of daily life.

It turns out, you don’t have to be "perfect" to love people well. You just have to be willing to share the table.

This Sunday at 3:00 PM, we are gathering to dive into 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. We’re exploring how a healthy community isn't a factory line of identical people; it’s a beautifully chaotic body where every single different, messy part is indispensable.

And because our theme this month is "The Messy Table," we are leaning all the way in: Stephen is tossing some pork back ribs in the sous vide for dinner. You literally cannot eat ribs elegantly, which makes them the perfect parable for the afternoon.

If you’ve been looking for a space to experience faith that gets its hands dirty, you are so welcome here. Drop us a comment or send a DM if you want to pull up a chair this Sunday!

"We love our dream of community more than the actual people in it, and in the end, everybody loses."Have you ever caught...
06/01/2026

"We love our dream of community more than the actual people in it, and in the end, everybody loses."

Have you ever caught yourself holding your family, your friends, or your microchurch up to an impossible standard of perfection? It’s a subtle way we keep people at arm's length.

This month at Harbour, we are leaning into "The Messy Table." We are letting the dream of the perfect community die so that real, gritty, honest love can take its place.

Check out the blog for this week's reflection, and pick one of our three community practices to try out before we gather this coming Sunday: The Agenda-Free Dinner, The "I Need Help" Text, or the Burden Takeover.

📖 Read the full launch post here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/the-messy-table-loving-ideals-or-people/

There is profound grace in the dormant seasons.Our spiritual lives go through seasons just like the natural world. Yet, ...
05/25/2026

There is profound grace in the dormant seasons.

Our spiritual lives go through seasons just like the natural world. Yet, we live in a culture that demands constant productivity. When we are expected to always be bearing fruit, finding ourselves in a "winter" season of drought or burnout can feel like a massive failure.

But winter is an invitation to rest and let the ground recover.

This week, we are challenging our community to do a "Growth Audit." Spend 15 minutes identifying what spiritual season you are currently in (spring, summer, fall, or winter), and then write yourself a literal permission slip to rest in it.

📖 Read our full Week 4 reflection here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/god-in-the-wild-spiritual-seasons/

Are you feeling more like a vibrant summer or a dormant winter right now? Let us know below. 👇

Every act of love, justice, beauty, and creativity we pour into our neighbourhoods is never wasted.This week for our "Go...
05/18/2026

Every act of love, justice, beauty, and creativity we pour into our neighbourhoods is never wasted.

This week for our "God in the Wild" theme, we are shifting from observing creation to actively restoring it. We are challenging our community to take a garbage bag on your daily walk and pick up litter along your street or local trail.

Treat this not just as a civic duty, but as a physical, tangible act of cosmic restoration. We are not just waiting around for the world to be fixed; we are called to roll up our sleeves and participate in the healing.

📖 Read our full Week 3 reflection on stewardship here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/god-in-the-wild-cosmic-restoration/

Which trail or park are you walking this week?

We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, yet the places we live so quickly become our ordinary.We often los...
05/11/2026

We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, yet the places we live so quickly become our ordinary.

We often lose the wonder of Vancouver Island by viewing it strictly through a scientific or recreational lens: as a resource to be studied, or a playground to be consumed for entertainment. But what if we viewed it as a revelation?

This week for our "God in the Wild" theme, we are exploring what it means to step out of the monotone and into colour. We are looking for the Divine in the wild with fresh eyes.

The Challenge: Try "The Silent Afternoon" this weekend. Spend three continuous hours outdoors with zero digital input and zero agenda. Do not hike for exercise. Do not explore for entertainment. Simply exist in the wild without consuming it.

📖 Read our full Week 2 reflection here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/god-in-the-wild-monotone-to-colour/

Where is your favourite spot in Nanaimo to just sit and exist?

If God is only present in the spectacular, then most of our actual lives will be spiritually empty.We easily find the Cr...
05/04/2026

If God is only present in the spectacular, then most of our actual lives will be spiritually empty.

We easily find the Creator in the towering forests of the Island or the crashing ocean waves. But what about in the grocery store line? What about when you are folding the fourth load of laundry for the week?

This week for our "God in the Wild" theme, we are looking at how a 17th-century monk named Brother Lawrence learned to practice the presence of God right in the middle of a chaotic, noisy kitchen. He realized that the mundane wasn't an interruption to his spiritual life; it was the very arena for it.

We are bringing the Cathedral into the kitchen sink this week.

📖 Read our Week 1 guide and try out "The Kitchen Liturgy" practice here: https://harbourcommunity.ca/livingitout/god-in-the-wild-kitchen-sink/

Who is doing the dishes in your house tonight? Tag them below! 👇

Address

Nanaimo, BC

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Harbour Community posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category