Loving Our Neighbors Through Plants
At Bridge Community Church in Langley, B. C., community outreach takes many forms, including the distribution of spring flowers.
Langley, especially the area around Bridge Community Church, has experienced rapid growth in recent years. The increase in condominium and rental developments has brought in new families and individuals, many of whom live in condos or apartments that have balcony spaces but no yard.
Doug Wilbee, a member of Bridge Community, recalls a sunny Sunday morning a few years ago when Nathan VanHuizen, another church member and the owner of West Coast Gardens, brought a truckload of plants to give away to all of the women in the congregation.
“I thought that was really neat,” Wilbee said. As the congregation gathered outside after the service, VanHuizen's truck became a focal point, filled with a beautiful array of plants.
“And as we were all standing out there talking on a nice day, I saw a lot of moms and dads [from the neighborhood] walking by with their kids and families that Sunday morning,” Wilbee added.
The sight of those families enjoying a morning stroll sparked an idea for Wilbee. He noticed that VanHuizen had many plants leftover after sharing them with church members, and he asked if there were any further plans for them. When VanHuizen replied that there weren’t, Wilbee saw an opportunity to bless the community beyond the church walls.
“I said, ‘Okay, can I give them away?’ And so we started it – as people walked by, we gave them the plants,” said Wilbee.
The response was overwhelmingly positive. “Everybody was so thankful,” Wilbee shared. “They’d say, ‘Oh, thank you! Can I give a donation?’ But we’d tell them, ‘No, no, just don’t worry about it.’”
It wasn’t about receiving anything in return; it was about giving something small yet meaningful to the community. As families walked by with their children, many carrying plants in their arms, another idea began to take root in Wilbee’s mind. He reflected that lots of those people had bare balcony spaces and that the church might be able to help.
So the Spring Porch Pots event kicked off. The concept was simple: set up tables with soil, pots, and a variety of plants, and invite community members—both from the church and the neighborhood—to come together and create their own porch pots for free. Thanks to the generosity of VanHuizen and another member’s nephew, who both contribute plants, the event has drawn in neighbors year after year.
The beauty of the event lies not only in the plants themselves but in the collaboration and joy it brings.
“We’ve got some people wanting shade plants, and other people who need sun plants,” Wilbee explained. “So we’ve got all these plants, we’ve got all these pots, and we’ve got all this dirt. And then we just come—dads bring their kids, moms bring their kids—and we say, ‘Build your pot, whatever you want. We’ve got herbs, flowers, and things like that.’”
For Bridge Community Church, this event is about more than giving away plants—it’s also about fostering connections. “It’s a great way to love the community here,” Wilbee said. The church has always been outward-looking, seeking ways to serve the local residents. The porch pots event is just one of the many ways they’ve found to bring people together.
But as Wilbee points out, none of this would be possible without the unique contributions of the church members.
“It’s your people – what they bring to the table,” he emphasized. VanHuizen had a business and could supply plants, for example. And yet every person also has a role to play, said Wilbee. As a result, the church’s outreach is stronger because of the diverse talents and resources its members offer.
“We are a body, right? We all have different purposes,” said Wilbee, drawing from the well-known biblical passage of 1 Corinthians 12. He also noted that while the workers are few, the harvest is plentiful” (Matthew 9:37).
