Finally, the Vancouver Canucks are good again, squaring off against the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup playoffs in their first playoff appearance since the 2019-20 season.
As a long-time Canucks vlogger, I’ve seen substantial growth in my YouTube channel, Canuck Clay. I now offer memberships, and among the “perks” for certain members are a monthly group Zoom call with me as well as a bi-monthly one-on-one Zoom call.
And it’s in these moments when it becomes less about hockey and more about ministry.
When I first started the group Zoom chats, I was really interested to see in what direction they were going to go. Obviously, the viewers and I had a shared interest in the Vancouver Canucks. But I hoped the gatherings would go deeper than talking about our favourite hockey team for an hour.
I certainly wasn’t disappointed.
Within the first few minutes of our first-ever group call, one member asked me to pray for her. Another person shared how she used to be a practising Catholic, but she left the Church after a poor experience. A third caller told me that he was an evangelical Christian and that he wanted to know the differences between his church and mine.
I quickly realized that with this group of people, God had given me a perfect opportunity to be a witness of his love and mercy. To listen without judging. To seek understanding without sending solutions. And most of all, to be present.
This became even more evident with the one-on-one calls. To this day, we usually spend the 30 minutes talking about everything EXCEPT hockey. I’ve learned about their faith (or non-faith) journeys, their families, their schooling, their workplaces, their hopes, their dreams, their blessings, their challenges, and their struggles.
My witnessing is not limited to these smaller gatherings. In my nightly 11 p.m. YouTube livestreams that can attract more than 500 people, I often talk about my work for the Archdiocese of Vancouver and my service at my home parish of St. Paul in Richmond. In fact, viewers know that my Tuesday night show MUST end by 11:45 p.m. so I can make it to St. Paul’s for my weekly holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament that starts at midnight. To which someone will invariably ask, “What? You go to church at midnight?”
In addition to talking about my work and my faith, I share extensively about my wife Gail and our children Sean, Jacob, and Kayla. In fact, they often appear as special guests on my show … some more willing than others. I share about my bowling, my music, my studies, and most recently about my long recovery from my ruptured Achilles tendon. For better or for worse, I’m an open book.
Thus, my viewers know a lot about me. And I truly believe they care about me. Just as I know a lot about them and I care for them. We are more than strangers gathering to talk about the Canucks. We are truly a community.
And like any community, we look out for one another. Members are not afraid to ask for prayers (especially on Tuesday nights), and it’s amazing to see other members stepping up and offering to pray as well.
What started as a creative outlet for me to cheer on my favourite hockey team has turned into something much more important: it’s now a community where members often ask for prayers and turn to one another for support.
I’ve been told numerous times by viewers that my shows helped get them through the pandemic. Or that they help them with their mental health.
I recognize that I have been given a unique platform to share my faith and to have a positive impact on people. I try to bring the light of Christ into all of our gatherings. And I do not take this opportunity for granted.
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