There is one room at the Conference Centre that has a dedicated team of designers creating an aesthetic fit for a King.  Can you guess who will live there?

Learn how you can be a part of the history of this room.

As winter is approaching, the priority for the project is to get the roof up. This will allow the contractor to continue to work at a good pace on the interior and avoid the trouble of having to protect the building from the wet weather. The good news is that as of the beginning of November, we have a hard working team installing the trusses and sheathing boards for the roof, as you can see from the attached photos.

Our interior design team is also working hard and has already completed the selection of the floor finishes, the plumbing and electrical fixtures and the appliances. They are starting to consider the decoration and art work for the different rooms.

The work on the gatehouse is going well. The framing is underway and should be completed soon.

As you can see, overall we continue to make good progress on the project and, so far, we are still on track for an expected completion date of late summer 2019. Soon you will be able to book your retreats at Copper Ridge!

Camp Misawannee: A Welcoming Family for Girls

Our 7^th annual summer camp for girls saw 85 girls and 31 leaders gathered in Chilliwack for 4 days of activities with new and old friends! Camp “Misawannee” is a name that expresses different ideas of “I can do it” or “Come on, you can do it” and works its way into the campfire songs each night.

“Camp Misawannee has been a wonderful experience for my daughters, they look forward to camp all summer and make lasting friendships. I love it because they are having fun, meeting new people and building a good foundation of faith and character.” – Parent

Crafts, sports, team challenges, swimming, crazy campfire songs, a fun talent show and dance party, spending daily time in prayer, and enjoying great camp food – our days were packed!

“My daughters… arrived home from Camp Misawannee full of excitement to share their positive experiences of fun activities, as well as things they learned about their faith. They both enjoyed their counsellors and getting to know other Catholic girls.” – Parent

What started out 7 years ago as a leadership camp for 20 girls, has now turned into a family, where our campers return year after year, and come back to volunteer as leaders.

“I was fortunate to be a camper for three years, and I think that it helped me in becoming a better leader. Misawannee teaches many leadership skills and through the activities and games, you can develop many virtues and qualities that are transferable to being a good leader. I think through camp and being a counsellor in training, I got to strengthen my qualities of patience, humility, empathy, and become more confident in myself as a leader.” – Camp Leader

All the formation received by the leaders and leaders in training comes from the activities and retreats they attend during the year, and many of the younger girls go on to attend formative activities on a regular basis once the camp is over. The spiritual formation is entrusted to the Prelature of Opus Dei and will be carried out with a greater scope once the Copper Ridge Conference is completed.

A young lady anticipating attending a retreat on the Sunshine Coast for high school and university students expressed her gratitude as follows:

“I have attended other retreats and have always benefited greatly from the experience. The quiet time of prayer and recollection, along with the meditations given by the priest have truly helped me grow closer to God and strengthen the relationship I have with Him. The talks also have contributed to my formation, not only spiritually, but as an individual in the world. I would love to attend the upcoming retreat, especially as it comes just before school starts”. Isabel Chumbe, 2018

CRCC will provide an atmosphere of quiet and beauty for retreats that will help young people find their way in a sometimes confusing world. Thank you for supporting CRCC with your prayers for all the young people who will benefit from these activities.

The annual Chinese dinner in support of CRCC was a great success.  Over 250 participants enjoyed a ten course gourmet meal at the Victoria Chinese Restaurant in downtown Vancouver. Though there were so many of us, it felt just like a family gathering – lots of fun and friendship.  A lucky couple won the bid for two trips to the Holy Land. Before the auction, Mr. and Mrs. Boyd described the Holy Land in all its wonder and beauty. A special feature of this year’s dinner was that of the young people who moved from table to table to tell us of their own experiences of the practical and spiritual help and encouragement they receive from attending activities similar to those that will take place at Copper Ridge.  One of the attendees won the draw to attend a retreat when the new Conference Centre is ready to welcome us. We all left feeling grateful to be part of this legacy project. Over $35,000 was raised! We extend a big “thank you” to everyone who supported us either by attending the event, by donating items for the auction, and especially to the volunteers whose hard work to make the evening such a success added a special warmth to the event.  

The following is an interview with Peter Stocker, one of the first men in Western Canada to discover his vocation to Opus Dei.

How did you come into contact with Opus Dei?
In 1989 I was a fairly new convert to the Catholic Church and was researching the faith in a Catholic bookstore. I just happened to open a book titled In Conversation with God and found a card that had been left there for anyone who was interested in information about Opus Dei. I phoned the number on the card and met Marvi Naval, the first Philippino male supernumerary to come to Vancouver. I soon started attending Recollections with my friend Steve Pearse and shortly after that discovered my vocation as a supernumerary member of Opus Dei.

What appealed to you about Opus Dei?
I was immediately impressed that here was a group of men who had committed themselves to a structured life of pious practices such as daily Mass and prayer as well as weekly confession, and at the same time were regular guys living in the world. I found new friends, and was impressed by the happiness and joy of all these men. I loved how the knowledge of the faith could be applied to me and to my life.

What is the most important thing you have got out of your vocation to Opus Dei?
The biggest thing is that I know and experience that God is my Father. He is there in the midst of suffering and joy, in all the ordinary circumstances of my life. The Work gives me the means to live the presence of God, always a challenging and joyful undertaking.

What value do you think Copper Ridge Conference Centre will have for the Work in Western Canada?
I know that having a conference centre will intensify the value that the Work has already had for those associated with it here. Having members of the Work running our own facility will enable us to create the unique family atmosphere which is characteristic of Opus Dei. This is impossible in facilities that are operated by other organizations, even if they are very well run. People will have the experience of how transformative even one retreat at their own conference centre is. Over the years, we, our children and our grandchildren will be able to benefit from many activities in addition to retreats such as service projects, parenting classes and professional ethics seminars.

Any other things you would like to say about the formation provided by Opus Dei, the spirit of Opus Dei, etc.
The Work offers the means to live the presence of God in one’s life. One has the experience of a tremendous growth of freedom and of new horizons that are opened by the spiritual direction that Opus Dei provides.

Join us for our annual CRCC Dinner, Sunday October 21st at Victoria Chinese Restaurant. Live auction includes 2 trips to the Holy Land.  Silent auction includes Canucks tickets for 4, Dublin Crossing restaurant gift certificates, and other restaurant and event tickets. Register online at https://copperridgeconferencecentre.ca/dinner-2018/

Gray skies could not dampen the enthusiasm of the 250 people who attended the annual CRCC Thanksgiving Mass this year. With the mountains rising in the background and looking out through the trees to the waters of Howe Sound, it could not have been a more perfect setting for prayerful reflection on the dream of Copper Ridge Conference Centre.

A beautiful statue of Our Lady of Fair Love, adorned with flowers, had been placed beside the altar.  Many people took their pictures in front of the statue which has now been donated to our future Conference Centre.

We were fortunate to have Mr. Mark Donnelly and his family as the choir. Many of the prayers of the Mass were sung in Latin, along with sacred hymns that added an ethereal quality to the beauty of the liturgy.

Msgr. Fred Dolan, Vicar of Opus Dei in Canada, emphasized how much this project will help families for generations to come. He told an anecdote of a little handicapped boy who was taken to Lourdes by his parents to pray for a cure. The youngster asked Our Lord to cure him, insisting several times, and then told Jesus, “If you don’t listen to me, I will tell your Mother.” The boy was cured at that moment and everyone who was there saw him get out of his wheelchair. Fr. Fred told us that we should do the same; go to Our Lady and ask her for help to complete the CRCC project.

Those attending were awestruck by the tremendous progress made thus far. Pictures do not do justice to what is being accomplished on the site. Our sincere thanks to all those who are bringing this project to completion; together we are completing the dream.

On a warm, spring evening in Vancouver BC, thirty-two ladies gathered for a memorable evening.

The event was both a small fundraiser for Copper Ridge Conference Centre and a big “ladies’ night out.” Christina Estrada gave a heart-warming talk entitled “God’s Unique Plan for Woman.” We truly connected with Christina’s anecdotes, advice and insights. Many were very moved by her own personal journey in which she recounted that it was at an Opus Dei retreat that she really saw how God wanted her to live her life as a woman, wife, mother, sister and friend. We all felt the conviction that Copper Ridge, once built, would certainly be that place where many will get the chance to have that deep and profound encounter with Christ.

Several ladies signed up then and there for the next retreat, and others saw more fully the benefit of attending some type of formative activity like a doctrine class or a monthly recollection. The evening was a huge success, the air filled with that warmth of ladies who “know how to love and want to love more” and we all left inspired by each other’s presence and example.

For information on hosting Christina’s presentation at your own fundraising event, please contact Frances Huang at frances@dee.ca

Looking at the pictures above (more are available on the Photos Page), the progress on the conference centre is visible and exciting. Many of the rooms are taking shape and one can easily see the views we will have from the future dining room and the living room.

You can also walk on the future deck and take in the fresh air!

A part of the project we have not spoken about a lot is the gatehouse. It will serve as a home for the caretaker and for the priest. The following pictures show its location, the views it will have and the progress being made.