About the Brethren Tradition
University Chapel is an interdenominational Christian church on the UBC campus that has its roots in the Brethren tradition. Three of our pastors serve as UBC chaplains. The Brethren Tradition grew out of the Anglican church in England in the 1830’s. The Brethren tradition emphasizes that every Christian is equally called to live the Christian life and serve Jesus Christ in all they do. It countered the idea that ministry was only done by ordained ministers, and that everyone else was just a spectator. The idea of “the priesthood of all who believe” in Jesus has now become part of mainstream thinking in many denominations where laypeople actively serve and minister in their areas of gifting.
University Chapel on the UBC Campus
University Chapel is an interdenominational and intercultural Christian community held together by our common belief in the God of the Bible. We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that Jesus was the Messiah, and that through him every person may enter into a relationship with God empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our core beliefs are outlined in the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds.
Our church community, “Three Families Under One Roof”, is made up of three different language worshipping congregations: English, Mandarin Chinese, and Korean. Each Sunday morning, our “families” gather together for separate language services to experience God through sung worship, prayer, teaching, communion, and fellowship. These three services all take place at the same time in different spaces within the church building. Once or twice every quarter all three services come together in one single joint service to worship in all three languages together.As Christians, we believe in the reliability and authority of the Bible as the Word of God. Our core beliefs are outlined in a number of creeds (statements of belief) developed by the early church. These include the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
Meet the chaplains
Karen Daniels
Karen originally came to Vancouver to pursue a Masters Degree in Music Theory at UBC and enjoyed being part of a number of campus clubs. She was involved with and served in leadership with InterVarsity Campus Ministries. Karen has been a part of the University Chapel community for many years, serving on staff in a number of different roles since 2002. It was through these different roles that she felt called to pursue an MDiv at Regent College. Since that time, she has served in several pastoral roles and currently as the Executive Coordinating Pastor at UC.
One of her passions is to help create spaces and events that help people build deeper relationships within their community, relationships that help to build a sense of belonging and a greater understanding of what it means to be the body of Christ, and relationships that encourage one another to continue to seek and know Christ more deeply.
You can contact Karen by emailing karen@universitychapel.org, or by calling her at 604-916-5325.
Michael Low
Michael is a graduate of the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. He spent two decades in the marketplace, first as a litigator, before moving into wealth management, where he worked with high net worth clients to help them with their estate and succession planning. It was in this role that he really found himself helping his clients to exercise stewardship of their resources. It was also in this season that Michael began to ask the question of what his work meant to his Christian faith, and how that integration would look. This led him to Regent College, where he graduated with an MA in Theological Studies, with a concentration in Marketplace Theology.
Michael has spent 20 years of lay ministry working with young adults of college age and older, and is passionate about helping them navigate the most tumultuous season of their lives, as they graduate and enter the workforce. He has served as a Youth and Young Adult Pastor, lectured at a seminary in Singapore, as well as sat on the board of three churches and several non-profits. He is currently serving as the English Language Congregation Pastor at University Chapel. He is also conversant in Mandarin and Cantonese, and in his spare time, is an avid scuba diver (but only in tropical waters!).
You can contact Michael by emailing michael@universitychapel.org, or by calling him at 604-353-9920.
Bruce Nie
Bruce is originally from Qingdao, China where he was a human resource executive manager at several multinational companies. He also served as a pastor for a church in Qingdao for many years.
In 2019 Bruce moved to Vancouver with his family to pursue theological studies at Regent College. Bruce has served as the Chinese Language Pastor at University Chapel since 2022.
You can contact Bruce by emailing bruce@universitychapel.org, or by calling him at 778-917-9196.
Services and events
- Sunday Services: English, Chinese, Korean at 10 am
- Homegroups, Student Fellowship, Bible Studies, Prayer Meetings: English, Chinese, Korean
- MInistries @ UC: Children, Youth, Students, ESL
For the latest updates on all services, gathering, Bible studies, and community events please refer to the University Chapel website.