The world comes to Whistler

It’s a world-class resort and draws people from many parts of the globe. It will enjoy worldwide attention in 2010 as the site of the Winter Olympics. The place is Whistler Village, B.C., at the foot of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. The setting is spectacular.

“But it’s a pagan town,” says Tim Unruh, pastor of its MB church.

Unruh has been working this ground for 11 years as leader of Whistler Community Church. “Most people have come here from somewhere, some place they wanted to leave,” he says of the town’s 9,000 residents. “Some have actually run away from somewhere.” When people arrive in Whistler, they find a party mood, a place of good times, of having fun, of easy distraction and hedonistic self-absorption.

Whistler sounds like a tough sell for any Christian. But it’s not, says Unruh.

Author Rick Warren says people are most often open to the gospel in times of great personal need or change in their lives. “We’ve found that to be true in our ministry,” says Unruh. It’s especially true among one of his four “congregations,” people who arrive in Whistler as service workers for one to three years. Meeting this group’s needs is a key part of the ministry at Whistler Community.

That doesn’t mean ministry is easy. “This is a frontier,” says Unruh. “It’s an outpost. It’s a place where people can find everything else. People can get distracted by almost anything.”

But when ministry produces fruit and the fruit is spiritual maturity, it’s wonderful. “We see maturity when people are willing to take responsibility for others,” Unruh says. Such changes contrast dramatically with the attitudes some people have when they arrive.

The other three “congregations” at Whistler Community are local (year-round) residents, short-stay visitors, and regular weekenders. Normal weekly attendance is about 80 people, lower than it used to be. Because of a cap on the village population, “it’s difficult for families to reside in Whistler,” says the pastor. But God keeps working in peoples’ lives and the church keeps active.

—Barrie McMaster