Our 36 Year History

The Pacific Jubilee Program was conceived in a conversation between Jack Gorsuch and Don Grayston (co-founder and first director). Don recalls that this momentous conversation took place at his cousin Mary’s lunch table in Seattle in 1986.

The program was born in 1988, when the first residency took place at the Vancouver School of Theology (VST). Originally an 18-month program, it became a two-year program in the late 1990s. In 2006, its relationship with VST came to an end – as did VST’s relationship with other co-sponsored programs – and the little boat PJP set out on the open seas. From 2006-2008, Mary Millerd was co-director with Don, mainly doing the administrative work that was done previously by VST.

In 2010, the program found safe harbour at Naramata Centre in Naramata, BC, largely through the work of Lois Huey-Heck and in 2011, Lois succeeded Don as director, working with senior program director Dawn Kilarski.

With the closure of Naramata Centre in 2015, the little boat PJP set out again, this time finding harbour at the Rivendell Retreat Centre on Bowen Island, BC. At this time, it was incorporated as a non-profit society and the role of director was shared by the four program mentors: Barry Vall, Dawn Kilarski, Lois Huey-Heck, and Tim Scorer along with an administration team. The program, reshaped into three phases and renamed SoulGuiding, was held at Rivendell for four years before it returned to Naramata Centre.

In 2020, Barry Vall, Dawn Kilarski and Lois Huey-Heck stepped down as program mentors. Dale Guenter, Julie Elliot, Shirley Vollet and Tim Scorer formed the next team of program mentors for the 2020-2022 cohort. In 2023, Tim Scorer stepped down as a program mentor and Wade Lifton joined the SoulGuiding team with Dale, Julie, and Shirley for the 2023-25 cohort.

There are four teams of committed people who support the work of Pacific Jubilee. Read more about those teams here.

In addition to SoulGuiding, Pacific Jubilee offers events and retreats throughout the year and these are open to all seekers. Read about upcoming events here.