[1] The family lived in the manse next door to the Mission, serving the immigrant population of the region in the spirit of the social gospel movement.
It was during this period that his theological interest and skills flourished – nurtured by a small group of clergy regularly meeting to debate the writing of Tillich, Aulén, Bultmann, and Bonhoeffer.
His unique blend of ‘God talk', affirmation of ambiguity, and commitment to even the most radical Other, made him the ideal person for the hippies, draft-resistors, anti-war advocates, and disenchanted of the 1960s.
It was during this period that he integrated and developed insights from the existentialists and the social psychology of Martin Buber, Erik Erikson, and Norman O.
He spent his final 10 years in the ministry on the staff of First United Church, a mission institution in downtown Eastside Vancouver.