The future direction of St. Columba’s Anglican-United Church changed unexpectedly during an unusually cold winter in 2021. On Dec. 21, temperatures in Port Hardy, B.C., on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island, fell to -5 C, then to -5 C again on Christmas Day. A few days later, they plunged to an unthinkable -12 C.

In other parts of Canada, these winter temperatures might be considered a warm spell. But in Port Hardy, that kind of frigid, foggy weather is rare; it penetrates through the usual West Coast winter uniform of wool, polar fleece, denim and cotton, seeping so deeply into skin and bones that even a bath or sauna can’t relieve the chill.

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The cold snap put the town’s limited shelter system to the test. Its local Salvation Army, under contract to the province, was mandated to close at 7 a.m. each morning, casting residents out into the cold. Nowhere else welcoming opened until 9:30 a.m. That two-and-a-half-hour gap led to the creation of St. Columba Sanctuary, a daily drop-in program. Since Christmastime nearly five years ago, the church has welcomed about 15 people each morning for a hot breakfast and a listening ear.

The Sanctuary exists in a region with its own complicated relationship to the church. The poorer part of the North Island that St. Columba........

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