Ian Jackson

Drea Glen | Outside her church on 99 Street and 67 Avenue.

Drea Glen has faith. A lot of it. A member of Edmonton’s evangelical Christian community, Glen counts Jesus as one of her closest personal friends, and has the words “Jehova, Shalom” (which mean “Lord, our peace”) tattooed on her arm.

Glen has been an evangelical Christian for more than 20 years, but she hasn’t always had God in her life. “There were a lot of problems in my home when I was a kid,” she says. “My dad is native, and he grew up in a Christian home, but there was also a lot of abuse in his home. He came to equate Christianity with hypocrisy and turned to substance abuse instead.”

But a series of coincidences (or, as Glen feels, an act of God) put her parents in contact with an evangelical pastor. When Glen was 10 years old, her father went though a spiritual crisis, and questioned the church in discussions with a pastor friend. The answers the pastor gave resonated with him, and he was “born again.” Glen and her siblings were baptized along with their parents.

“God and the Holy Spirit were truly moving in our family,” she says. “The tension was gone. So many of our problems were gone, and God did that for us.”

Glen shared the details of her Christian life in Edmonton, including speaking in tongues and saving herself for marriage.

SEE Magazine: So now that you’re an adult, what does your faith mean to you?

Drea Glen: To me, being a Christian is all about love. So I do my best to always find love and forgiveness in my heart in my daily dealings.

SEE: Do you ever find it tough to keep your faith?

DG: Jesus has shown me so many miracles, in my life and the lives of others. I’d actually find it harder to not believe in Him because I’ve seen so much evidence of His work in my life.... If I ever feel down about something, or am questioning some act in the world, I know my faith is there to lift me up. That’s an everyday miracle.

SEE: What other kinds of miracles do you believe in?

DG: All kinds of things. Healings — emotional, spiritual, and physical healings. I believe it was a miracle that brought my father and my family to the church. And there are other things, like speaking in tongues.

SEE: OK, I have to ask. What’s the deal with speaking in tongues?

DG: We believe that speaking in tongues is a miracle of the Holy Spirit working through our bodies. It’s an amazing experience that truly speaks to the presence of God.

SEE: How important is your church community to you?

DG: I’d say about 90 per cent of my life is about my faith. My church is my family, and I run a Christian bookstore at Kings University College so I work for a Christian institution. My social life is totally wrapped up in the church.

SEE: What role do you feel your church plays in the larger society?

DG: I like to think that our church is socially relevant. We’re not all about kneeling in prayer and singing hymns. Our service is very progressive — we have a full band and Christian rock-style music as part of our celebration. And in our daily lives, it’s not like we wear long skirts or headscarves or anything like that. We’re a part of this society, but we make our decisions guided by our principles and our belief in God, more so than the secular society.... Like with sex before marriage. I’m probably the last 30-year-old virgin left in the city. But my church doesn’t believe in sex before marriage, so I’m saving myself for my future husband. I can only imagine how great sex will be when it’s blessed by Jesus and when it’s with the man I’ll spend the rest of my life with.

SEE: What about more political issues? Do you or your church have any thoughts about gay marriage, for example?

DG: I can’t really comment on people’s lifestyle if they are from outside the church. If they don’t know Jesus, well, they don’t know what they are missing. But if they are Christian and living that lifestyle, well, then they’re not really being true to the tenets of the faith.

SEE: Do you see that at all as contradictory to the message of love within your church?

DG: Not really. It’s a case of “love the sinner, but hate the sin.” After all, God is love. I really try to do what I can to share that love with the rest of the world.

This is the second in a series of articles exploring what it’s like for people of different spiritual beliefs to live in Edmonton.