Join us in house at Quadra and Balmoral or online at 4pm this Sunday.

Guest musician Rachel Colman and the AbbeyChurch band will lead us in music - read more about Rachel here.

Ernest Morrow is preaching on the scandal of the Bread of Life and how we're all called to be children of God.

Rob Shearer serves at Jesus' table of welcome

Tressa is with the younger children 

Jake - our new youth minister! - with the older kids / teens.  See more about Jake below!

Our prayer time will include anointing with oil for healing. 

Reba chooses and reads a poem

All that - and a potluck to follow.

There will be bread and wine.  Come.

The leaflet is available here.

The livestream will happen on YouTube here. 

Image: The Breaking of the Bread by Fr. Sieger Koder

We will have a potluck after worship on Sunday August 11th.  All are welcome to come, whether you have a contribution or not - there's usually lots of food!  

We worship from 4pm until 5:15ish (maybe a bit longer) - so come for worship and / or just for the potluck.

Hope to see you there.

We're excited to welcome Rachel Colman as a guest musician this Sunday, August 11. 

Rachel has been playing music and fostering participation in singing in Anglican congregations in Winnipeg and Toronto for more than a decade. Here she brings pieces of liturgy and scripture to life in meditative song. Prayer and slowing down our souls can be difficult in anxious and fearful days.

Rachel will sing some originals from her upcoming album and join the band on organ and piano.

She currently is part of St. Benedict's Table in Winnipeg one of our sibling congregations, where her spouse Andrew is a priest and which was co-founded by our former music director Catherine Pate.

You can check our Rachel's bandcamp here or her spotify here.

August 11 - worship at 4pm with potluck to follow

August 18 - off week

August 25 - worship at 4pm 

September 1 - worship at 4pm @ Willows Beach simple worship, potluck - Season of Creation begins

September 8 - worship at 4pm at Abbey Church with blessing of the backpacks

September 15 - no worship at AbbeyChurch - we gather to celebrate Reba (our poet-in-residence) ordination at the Anglican Cathedral  (more on the Anglican website, here) - AbbeyKid / Teens will happen this week (location / time to be announced).

September 21 - return to weekly worship

Starting this Sunday, we welcome Jake Highfield (pronouns: they/them) as our new AbbeyChurch youth minister.

Jake has been worshiping with us occasionally.  They will be working alongside Tressa Brotsky, who will be coordinating the younger children on Sundays. Jake has an office/creative space beside the AbbeyChurch office and library.

Raised in the United Church, Jake has been involved with youth and children's leadership in the church since 2008 in some form or another and has worked with some of our Abbey youth at Camp Spirit in 2023 and in 2021 when we hosted at the St. Matthias site.

Jake has been an enthusiastic attendee and staff member at several United Church summer camps, organized regional youth events, been regional 'First Third' staff, sat on various committees and boards at the local, United Church presbytery, and regional level, and is excited to bring their passion for the wider church to this very important work.

Jake is coming alongside our collective desire for AbbeyChurch youth to be part of a wider multigenerational community where we can tell and listen to our sacred story (in scripture and the lives of 'saints', broadly defined), engage in spiritual practices (prayer, meditiation, action) and to be a mentor for those youth seeking a place in the beloved community, that is, the Church.

Jake is also a professional electrician and fabric artist, and is currently serving on the Board of Directors at Camp Pringle, a United Church camp on Shawnigan Lake.

NOTE: internet was down at the church on this date when we last worshipped (with Rob preaching). 

We're sorry if you missed us in person or online!   But you can now click below to watch! 

Image: Mosaic of the Loaves and Fishes from The Church of the Multiplication, Tabgha, Israel / Palestine (CC:ASA3.0)

We're now welcoming food donations for AbbeyChurch/Emmaus partnership with QomQem coastal connections in the ‘treasure chest’ at the back of the sanctuar

We'll be using this food to support their street outreach on Sunday evenings – update!!! - starting SEPTEMBER 8. Starting then,our folk are welcomed to assist in sandwich prep after church at 5:30pm.

Here is the list of desired items:

• large bags of soft candies to make up mixed candy bags (thinking dinosours, sour keys, cherry blasters etc)
• Large jars of peanut butter, Nutella or jam
• Tins of Gatorade powder
• Tins of hot chocolate powder (once it starts to cool)
• Sweet treats like pre wrapped Rice Krispie squares, wagon wheels, ding dongs etc 
• Fruit cups
• Flavoured Apple sauce cups 
• Soft chew granola bars (nutrigrain, etc) 
• If folks are dropping off food later in the week or on Sundays, small easy peel oranges and bananas are also great!
• Gatorade/powerade bottles
• Home baking on the day of - starting September 8th (ideally 150 units)
• Sunscreen, batteries, flashlights

Up to 150 people served each night, so bulk family/sized items appreciated.

Thanks for any help you can be in this amazing work!

Mondays at 9am - Morning Prayer with Centering Prayer @ AbbeyChurch office (off the Balmoral parking lot, metal stairs up) - in-person only.  Not usually AM prayer on holiday Mondays (no prayer Mon. August 12). 

Our Place Eucharist monthly on Mondays for the Summer on Pandora - see more details here. 

Tuesdays at 8:15am - Morning Prayer hybrid zoom/in-person at Lynn and Phill's Near Castle Hardware.

Thursdays at 8:15am - morning prayer - chapel / hybrid zoom

Fridays at 8:15am - morning prayer - on-line zoom only

Our weekday common prayer is liturgical in nature and based on ancient monastic practices.   It's open to all who wish to join in-person or online. We sometimes chant the psalms, listen to a reading or readings assigned for the day, have a short period of silence, sharing and intercessory prayer for the world, our communities...

The liturgies and psalter for weekday prayer are posted here.   Please do email for a zoom link if you are joining online.

NOTE / UPDATE: Playlist has been recently updated...  Give it a spin

Did you know that we have a spotify playlist that we're constantly updating (now over 700 songs) that reflects the same eclectic music at AbbeyChurch.  Check it out here. 

We've merged our Emmaus Community and AbbeyChurch websites! You can now read more about The Emmaus Community here, and AbbeyChurch here. If you see something missing or that needs correcting, please do let us know.

We're grateful for your contributions to our common life as both Emmaus and the AbbeyChurch.

Since 2014 we have operating under the umbrella of the Anglican Diocese. We're excited to share that we are now our own registered charity (with the blessing of both the United and Anglican churches). 

You can now send us e-transfers to donate to treasurer@emmauscommunity.ca

We've updated our website to reflect you can give finanically - including the new e-transfers, PAR (monthly withdrawl), CanadaHelps (one-time giving) and by cash or debit (via Square) on Sundays at AbbeyChurch. 

You can read more about the options and a bit about our finances here. 

Members of the Emmaus Community registered the Burning Heart Housing Cooperative in 2020 with the hope of creating a monastic residental hub for our members to live 'from temple to table daily'.

We're actively looking for a piece of land or a multi-unit complex on Southern Vancouver Island  to build or adapt.  We're also seeking partners who might wish to collaborate on this.

If you have ideas, possiblities - or are interested in this in any way, please email us: admin@emmauscommunity.ca.

image: old grace housing co-op in Winnipeg (not us, yet!)

It's been a while since our 'monastics' brewed our last batch of Trappist-inspired beverages - strong Belgian Ales - and we've been working on converting our equipment to be a more portable unit and plan to start brewing again in the fall out in Sooke.  

If you're interested in spending time brewing, drop us a line and we'll let you know when you can come and help.

Our beverages are a grassroots social enterprise and beverages when complete, will be available by donation only through the Emmaus Community.

Read more about our St. Alban's Ale and social enterprise here.

The Emmaus Community, which is a neo-monastic intentional community of ordinary people who commit ourselves to following Jesus in ways akin to the monastic life. The AbbeyChurch is a Sunday worship expression of the Emmaus Community.  Not all AbbeyChurch folks are part of Emmaus - you're welcome to be a part of AbbeyChurch regardless of connection to Emmaus!

As a witness to unity and diversity, we are an ecumenical shared ministry of The United Church of Canada and The Anglican Church of Canada. We intentionally draw on the 'jewels' of these traditions, as well as the wider church.

The Emmaus Community and the AbbeyChurch acknowledge that we worship, take action and pray on the stolen territory of the Songhees and Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) Nations, the Lək̓ʷəŋən  peoples'.

The AbbeyChurch community mourns with friends, family and colleagues of Ralston S. Alexander, a Victoria layer whose memorial service we are hosting on Saturday with Rob officiating.  If you knew Ralston, please feel free to attend or watch the service at 1pm on our YouTube Channel, here. 

Our friends at the Queer Family Camp have asked us to spread the news.

For more information check out the Wild Church Website.   Price is just $100 plus accomodation, free for kids under 18.

Prayer in the style of Taize

6pm - September 20   October 18    November 15

St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church

 (Emmaus Community / The AbbeyChurch will be hosting this at AbbeyChurch in early 2025)