Meet my friend Jim

My son, Cameron, suggested I reach out to Jim as someone also interested and experienced in justice advocacy, knowledgeable in politics, fervent in faith, and a Toronto Blue Jays baseball fan. The two met years ago at a United Nations climate conference (UNFCCC) in Cancún, Mexico. Learning that Jim had retired from global relations work at the United Church of Canada in Toronto and had returned to the town of his childhood, Summerland where I now again live. Cameron suggested I reach out to him on social media. Shy by nature, it took me a few months to summon sufficient cold-call courage but I finally suggested we meet for coffee, and the rest as they say, is conversational history.

We meet every few weeks for wide-ranging conversations. We are currently somewhat confused Toronto Blue Jays fans. We are horrified at the state of American politics (and elsewhere including Canada). Jim maintains broad and deep connections with activist communities in central and south America; he has welcomed guests here recently from Guatemala.

Jim occasionally attends Anglican services here in Summerland and I occasionally assist with United Church services which he occasionally attends. We both enjoy photography; we cycle — he is in much better shape than me. Jim is a professional journalist, blogger, and writer. I am an amateur author, blogger and preacher. I have published one book; his is in process. Asking him what to say about the forthcoming book he replied: “Just say I am writing a book.” In other words, a work in progress. Having read a couple of early chapters I am eager to see the complete work. Jim summarizes his work history in these words:

“I worked as a journalist with extensive experience in Latin America and the Caribbean. I worked in the Dominican Republic for two years in the late 1980s and in Mexico for six years in the 1990s. I was the ecumenical education and communication secretary at the Canadian Council of Churches (1989-94); program director at the Cuernavaca Centre for Intercultural Dialogue on Development (1994-98); program liaison between the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade and Common Frontiers (1998-2000); and Mexico correspondent for Catholic News Service (1998-2000).”

From 2000 to 2020, Jim worked with The United Church of Canada as its Latin America/Caribbean program coordinator, leading efforts to expand work with global partners for LGBTI rights and inclusion.

Recalling his religious roots here in Summerland, and in his later teens, Jim travelled from time to time with friends the 50 kilometres north to Kelowna where there was a lively local group of the national Ten Days for World Development ecumenical coalition. There, he met people whose faith led to action on important issues of international development, social justice and Indigenous rights. While Jim has deep roots in both United Church and Roman Catholic traditions, as he ages he is inclined to identify himself simply as an “ecumenical Christian.” 

He and his partner, David García, split their time between Chiapas, Mexico, and Summerland. Their family is unique as they were chosen as parents by Kamill, now a nursing student, artist and restaurant worker in Ottawa.

In retirement, both Jim and I remain concerned that justice be named and demanded for all people, especially vulnerable persons and communities. Our concern extends beyond human experience to include all of creation. Each of us is called to a particular vocation, a particular prophetic voice, where the rumble of complaint can sometimes deliver a just outcome, in the stories of scripture where the rich are brought low and the lowly raised up, where a Samaritan crosses the road to mend the wounds of a victim. On such occasions the world becomes a better place, as it should be, for all.

Thanks Jim for walking this road with me. As Carol Burnett would sing at the end of each show “I’m so glad we have this time together.”

SELECT ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

Recent titles featured at his Unwrapping Development blog include: 

• UN approves a ‘Gang Suppression Force’ for Haiti
• Drone attacks in the Caribbean have Canadian connections

A few publications/videos available online include:

• “Church and Decriminalization in Latin America,” in: Intimate Conviction 2: Continuing the Decriminalization Dialogue, Toronto: HIV Legal Network, 2021, pp. 74-78. Or view on YouTube

• “Sanctioned Ignorance: International sanctions in countries like North Korea and Venezuela hurt more than help,” Mandate, Fall 2020. 

• United Church of Canada, Minutes for Mission 2020 (video): Farmers with Disabilities in Cuba

Photos: Jim Hodgson

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