Saviour of the Nations Lutheran Church

While my husband and I were living in Vancouver, BC for about a year on a job contract, we attended Saviour of the Nations Lutheran Church and absolutely loved it. Seriously, this list of awesomeness could get long, but I’ll try to keep it brief:
Our two daughters (then 2 and 4) had a blast in the Sunday School classes. The teachers are on it, with Pinterest-​worthy crafts, games and songs prepared every week. The church is super toddler-​friendly (there are several toddlers, including the pastors’ kids) so no one gave us stink eyes if the kids got loud. The sanctuary itself has a fully-​stocked toy room in the back so it wasn’t a big deal to sit back there if the kids weren’t quiet.
Because the church is ESL-​friendly, all the steps of the service are projected on a screen at the front of the church so you don’t get lost flipping back and forth in the hymnal or bulletin. It’s very simple to follow along with the liturgy.
My husband and I are gluten free, so we were excited to find out one of the pastors is also so having gluten free communion wafers was not a big deal.
The people in this church have a really neat energy that is not typical in most Lutheran churches. It feels alive, like everyone really WANTS to be there. There is some sort of class or activity scheduled for pretty much every day of the week so you could be there several days a week if you want to be.
The website is kept up well so we could keep track of events and not miss anything. My favorite event was the bi-​weekly Mom’s Group meet ups. Childcare is provided, so I could take my girls and actually get to pay attention to the meetings while my kids were safely supervised down the hall or on the other side of the park (in the summer the group meets at a nearby park for fresh air). Since I moved away, the group has set up a Google Hangouts on an iPad at their meetings so I can continue to participate at a distance. Such a sweet gesture!
What else can I say about this really fantastic church? Well, the pastors are all young so they have enthusiasm at the pulpit so it’s easy to pay attention.
There is a monthly potluck called the Second Sunday Feast and the food is abnormally good. The dishes are healthy (and much was marked gluten free) and culturally diverse, so we could really chow down and not feel gross.
Oh, and there is a really high proportion of professionally trained/​working classical musicians in this congregation (seriously, there are over a dozen members that play violins, cellos and pianos REALLY well) so the music is way above average when those musicians accompany the hymns.
I could go on, but I guess that’s enough for you to get the idea that if I could give this church 10 stars, I would. :)