Join us as for Sunday worship as we welcome the new year with Advent waiting and hope!

Rob preaches, asking, When things are falling apart, where are the signs of hope? What new life is God growing amidst the rubble? What are we waiting for?

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

There will be prayer stations and anointing prayers for healing...

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.

(Note: for Advent, we will not be running a livestream - but for those who watch in on us from afar, we hope to post some snippets early next week!)

Image: Tressy Brotsky and AbbeyKids

Dear friends, 

If you missed our Community Meeting last week, please click here or at the button below to read Matt's letter and to review the documents we discussed.  It was a wonderful potluck and time of listening and prayer as we considered where we have come from and began to look ahead to where we are going in the year ahead!  

We gratefully affirmed a new AbbeyCouncil consisting of Jen, Phil, Nick, Josh, Joy and Jake!   With prayers and gratitude for their willingness to step into leadership, we do welcome your connecting to each of them on behalf of our wee community and our work together!  (More about each of them in the new year.) 

If you were unable to attend the meeting, please do note this link with the official minutes, taken by Mailyn Gough.   This should give you a good sense of what we discussed together.  If you wish to give ongoing input to any of this, feel free to speak with Matt or any of the above mentioned members of AbbeyCouncil.   Thanks! 

Blessing the Way

With every step
you take,
this blessing rises up
to meet you.

It has been waiting
long ages for you.

Look close
and you can see
the layers of it,

how it has been fashioned
by those who walked
this road before you,

how it has been created
of nothing but
their determination
and their dreaming,

how it has taken
its form
from an ancient hope
that drew them forward
and made a way for them
when no way could be
seen.

Look closer
and you will see
this blessing
is not finished,

that you are part
of the path
it is preparing,

that you are how
this blessing means
to be a voice
within the wilderness

and a welcome
for the way.

—Jan Richardson

In partnership with the Local General Store, we are offering a set of four Advent Candles (three purple and one rose coloured) from Canadian made honey-bee candles for $18.00 a set.   They are available at the AbbeyChurch and the Local General Store during worship.  If picking up at the Local please indicate they are for the Abbey and you will etransfer us diredctly.  Thanks! 

Hey folks!    If you missed our Community Meeting you will have missed the report from Lynn, our treasurer – I’m passing along a short summary of that report, along with my deep gratitude for all who have contributed to our common life in 2024!   We are looking ahead to a 2025 budget which continues the good work we have begun, and makes deeper commitments to our children and youth.  I invite you to prayerfully support this work as you are able! (You can reach Lynn at treasurer@emmauscommunity.ca with questions or if you'd like to setup monthly giving.  -Matt

Emmaus Community/AbbeyChurch Financial Report for 2024

We are so very grateful for all who have given in 2024 to support and nourish and the AbbeyChurch!  The great news is that we are in the black for 2024. We came into the year with just over $20K in the bank and are projected to finish the year with just over $37K. This is due in large part to two unexpected one-time gifts.  Our regular donations are less than we projected for 2024 (approx 15K) and our expenses are right on target. (We run a lean organization with a small part-time staff and low expenses!)

Projected Budget for 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, if donor support remains as it was in 2024 ($45K), we are projecting a budget deficit of $21K for the 2025 fiscal year. This figure relates most directly to a deeper investment for our youth (20K) with the ongoing support for a Youth Leader and Children’s Ministry intern. We are taking this step, trusting in God’s provision and creative fundraising.  We encourage those who are not giving regularly to give what you can to support this good work.  The proposed 2025 budget was affirmed by consensus at the Community Meeting on November 25, 2024.

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 God who meets us in our depths! 

Check out the link below to watch. 

Image: Christ of the Abyss

+ 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.  

+ Wednesdays at 10am - Midweek Eucharist @AbbeyChurch office( off the Balmoral parking lot, metal stairs up) - in person only. 

+ 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.

On Saturday December 21st the Church will be a place of safety and quiet for all of the grief and sadness we have born through this last year. 

The Advent Spiral will be setup in the Church from 5:00 pm onwards, with candle light and some very gentle contemplative music playing for self-guided time of reflection and prayer. 

At 7:00 pm we will host a short service of grief and remembrance (sometimes called Blue Christmas) for all of the grief we have born this year and carry as we head into this holiday season.   All are warmly invited to come participate, pray, sing, light candles, and reflect upon the weight of what we carry this time of year. 

After the service, our self-guided candelit Advent Spiral will continue until 9:00 pm. 

Click here for our Advent 2024 updated playlist!  

Some favourites we will draw on in worship together include this album from Porter's Gate.

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

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

We  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.

Save the Date!  - Solidarity is the Political Version of Love - Book Tour

Rabbi Alissa Wise and Rebecca Vilkomerson, co-authors of the recently published Solidarity is the Political Version of Love, will be appearing at the Broad View United Church on Monday January 27 2025 at 7 pm.

• As the international movement for Palestinian liberation movement gathers strength and momentum, what is a politics of solidarity?
• What does the politics of solidarity look like in practice, and how can left-wing organizations grow — in numbers and power — while remaining accountable to the broader movements of which they are a part?

Against the backdrop of rapid and often devastating political developments, Solidarity is the Political Version of Love explores how Jewish Voice for Peace grew larger as the organization shifted to the left and helped to alter the public narrative about Palestinian liberation, while also navigating the tensions of organization-building and creating a space for Judaism liberated from Zionism. Their insights help contextualize the intense suppression of activism for Palestinian freedom, while illuminating the roots of today’s flourishing Jewish solidarity with Palestinians worldwide. In addressing their shortcomings and failures no less than their inspiring successes, Vilkomerson and Wise deliver an account of JVP’s organizing during the 2010s that offers crucial strategic lessons for anyone engaging in the collective work of building organizations and fighting for justice as our movements evolve over time.

Rebecca Vilkomerson has worked in social justice movement building for several decades, as an organizer, fundraiser, organizational development consultant and strategist. From 2009-2019 she was the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace. In 2022, the Solidaire Network published her report “Funding Freedom: Building Support for the Palestinian Freedom Movement in Philanthropy.” She is currently the Co-Director of the Funding Freedom project. 

Rabbi Alissa Wise is an organizational consultant, community organizer, educator, and ritual leader with over two decades of movement-building experience. Rabbi Wise co-founded the JVP Rabbinical Council in 2010. From 2011-2021 was Organizing Co-Director, Deputy Director and Interim Co-Executive Director of JVP. She is currently the Lead Organizer of Rabbis for Ceasefire which she founded in October 2023.

This event is co-hosted by Independent Jewish Voices, Broad View United Church, and Labour for Palestine.

Our friend Anna from Oak Bay United asked us to share their Blue Christmas event! Here are the details.

A few folks connected with AbbeyChurch are looking for housing - either part time or short term.  If you have a spare suite that's unused and available, drop us a line and we can let you know who is looking!