Like many, Pavlos Agelidis has used his work and his resources to serve the Faith and his community. But his coming to the Faith is unlike many others.
Pavlos opened a cigar shop in 2005, in downtown Vancouver. He came to know the Bahá’í Faith one or two years later, by meeting a Buddhist who recognized Baha’u’llah as a manifestation. But later, meeting a Bahá’í and befriending him “really started my journey“, he recounts.
“I recognized myself as a spiritual person that accepted all Faiths as one“, he says. This vision inspired the devotionals he hosted, using a space he already owned to welcome people from all walks of life.
“One night, sitting outside the shop with some friends, we decided to start hosting devotionals in [it]“. Pavlos became a Bahá’í at some point, but the devotionals were never of a specific a religion.
“It was fascinating to have different conversations: [for example] there was a person that came from the Christian faith, there was a person that was Sikh, there was an agnostic person”, explains Pavlos about the variety of attendees.
The location of these interfaith meetings made it an interesting opportunity to encounter spirituality or religion, for people who wouldn’t necessarily have this experience. The devotions happened after the cigar shop closed, but customers would still walk by, thinking the store was open.
“They would be asking, what are you guys doing here?”, remembers Pavlos. “In some cases, people would come and ask to sit with us, or [they would] stand there in a moment of silence”.
For others, the gathering came at the right time in their lives. “We met people [whose] family members had just passed away. That was really interesting because all of a sudden, it became this place of refuge”.
For seven years, the devotions happened in the shop. At some point in this period, he had about twenty chairs set up in his boutique, but more people than that were coming. About a year ago, when an office nearby became available and seemed “ a little bit more comfortable”, he moved the devotions there.
19 years after starting his business downtown, Pavlos considers it is “very much a community store”. In it, he was able to foster a culture of unity and peace among his customers and the believers who were coming.