Join us as we worship this Sunday and remember all the saints who have come before us and continue to gather round as we worship! 

Ernest preaches a timely word on Hannah's song, the end of Mark's Gospel, and the limitations of worldly power....

Matt presides at Christ's table of welcome... 

Jake and the youth gather and Maya is with the younger ones...

The band leads us in joyful song...

There will be bread and wine.  Come...

The order of service leaflet will soon be available here.

Livestream option is available here (direct link) and at our YouTube page.

Image: Hildegard of Bingen / WikiCommons / Public Domain

Beginning on Saturday Nov 16, the Emmaus Community will be participating in Celtic Advent, a 40-day journey between now and Christmas day!  

Many of us have grown up with the four sundays of Advent as a time of anticipation and preparation for Christmas. And in our gathered worship at the Abbey Church we will still celebrate as such!    But there exists an older tradition in the Church, which mirrors lent, in 40 days of prayer and fasting, as we anticipate the high Feast of the birth of Christ. 

Maybe you are feeling weighed down by the heaviness of life and the world this year and would welcome a longer season within which to rest and to pray?   Maybe you feel the gentle call to put down the device, to rest in the quiet, to listen to the voice of God which beckons... 

We invite all to join us in participating in this Celtic Advent.   There is a calendar put out by the contemplative cottage with some suggested daily practices.   Some of our members in the past have used this season to fast from technology, or to rely upon candlelight.  Some have fasted from air travel or from fossil fuel - and taken up the practice of walking in the rain.   (Copies of the calendar will be available in print at the back of AbbeyChurch on Sunday).

Read Matt's 2020 reflection on Celtic Advent from our friends at A Rocha here.

In partnership with the Local General Store, we are offering a set of four Advent Candles (three purple and 1 rose coloured) from Canadian made honey-bee candles for $18.00 a set.  Email us at admin@emmauscommunity.ca to order your set and you can pay cash or card on Sunday December 1st for pickup. 

Over the years, we've taken 'baby steps' to become more democratic and transparent in our governance at AbbeyChurch.

We're happy to share that we're taking an even bigger step on November 24 - Reign of Christ Sunday!

We'll hold our first "Vestry Meeting" (a fancy old churchy word for "Annual General Meeting") with a potluck after worship.

We've been working with our denominations on how to do this within the law (now that we're a registered charity) and within the ethos of our denominations - and we're feeling ready to take this step.  

A few highlights:

- We are forming what we're calling "The AbbeyCouncil" - which will include members of the current vision team and others who can be nominated. This council will also have deeper call to support our worship and our clergy and staff.  This council will be given authority to make most AbbeyChurch decisions.

- We will approve the budget for 2025 as a wider community.

- We will seek input about what is next for our common life together as AbbeyChurch!

Stay tuned for more information in the weeks to come and please do consider letting your name stand for the AbbeyCouncil which will meet about 4 or 5 times a year.  Whether you're brand new or been around a long time, you're welcome to attend.  Anyone over 16 who is baptised and a semi-regular worshipper who doesn't vote at another Anglican or United Church are welcomed to vote - and ALL are welcomed to attend and contribute.

We are excited about this AbbeyChurch/Emmaus partnership with QomQem coastal connections and the North Park Neighborhood Association.

We have been receiving donations of food goods which will support their street outreach on Sunday evenings.  The treasure chest is at the back of the church and is empty at the moment.

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 (nutragrai  etc) 
• If folks are dropping off food later in the week or on Sundays, small easy peel oranges and bananas are also great!

We'll have a basket at the back of the church for collection.

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

Matt preached on the promises of a God that sees through worldly power but sees our humble heart's cry...  Lynn presided and the band led us in worship!

Check out the link below to watch. 

Image: Mother of Sorrows, Modern Saints by Gracie.

+ Mondays at 9am - Morning Prayer with Centering Prayer @ AbbeyChurch office (off the Balmoral parking lot, metal stairs up) - in-person only.  There is not usually AM prayer on holiday Mondays. 

+ Tuesdays at 9am -  Morning Prayer @ AbbeyChurch office (off the Balmoral parking lot, metal stairs up) - in-person and zoom.  

+ Thursdays at 8:15am - Morning Prayer - @ AbbeyChurch office (off the Balmoral parking lot, metal stairs up) / 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.

The liturgies and psalter for weekday prayer are posted here.  

Please do email for a zoom link if you are joining online.

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

We are now our own registered CRA charity and have our own bank account!

NEW! We now accept e-transfers to treasurer@emmauscommunity.ca for charitable donations.  If you'd like a charitable receipt, please email your contact information to that same address or fill out this form so we can send you a receipt at tax time.

In addition to the many ways to participate, there are a number of ways you can give finanically - including 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. 

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'.

We're excited to bring Martyn Joseph to town for a sixth time in 2025.

The Community Action Bus ( CAB) will be stopping to pick up passengers on Pandora St. at the intersection with Store St. facing the bridge for those who need or prefer a ride to the action. It will be available after the action to shuttle people back downtown for the big weekly ceasefire and Free Palestine rally for 1 pm.

Join  a virtual conversation with Robert YELḰÁTŦE Clifford about the threat to Goldstream River

This event has passed, but if you'd like a recording, let us (or Denise) know.

Thursday, November 7 from 7:00 to 8:30pm on Zoom (registration required)

 Throughout the last year a number of us have been writing letters to Provincial Government officials and standing with W̱SÁNEĆ elder Carl Olsen at Goldstream Park raising awareness about the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure’s proposal that will threaten the entire Goldstream habitat and violate the Douglas Treaty.

 Now we invite you to share in what we believe will be an alive and informative 90 minutes with Rob YELḰÁTŦE Clifford who will speak through the lens of W̱SÁNEĆ Legal Theory to the B.C. government’s proposal to expand the Malahat highway by SELE₭TEȽ (known as the Goldstream River). Drawing on W̱SÁNEĆ stories he will provide a W̱SÁNEĆ framework for understanding the harm that this proposal can incur to the trees, water, salmon, birds, animals and to the W̱SÁNEĆ people, as well as the implications of this shift in framework.

 Rob YELḰÁTŦE Clifford is from Tsawout First Nation and is Co-Academic Director of Indigenous Legal Studies, Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. For more about Rob, go to https://allard.ubc.ca/about-us/our-people/robert-clifford

 This event is brought to you by Reconciling with Indigenous Peoples and the Land (RIPL), an interfaith steering group formed to facilitate further steps in the work of reconciliation.

 Reconciling with the Land and Indigenous Peoples.  For more information reconcilAction.jbuc@gmail.com