Threads of a Rich Tapestry
Our dynamic adult programming in 2022 – Threads of a Rich Tapestry – had something for everyone. Like any rich tapestry, beautiful threads are interwoven to create rich and vibrant beauty.
This Summer (summer of 2022), our guests found four threads creating a varied tapestry of options.
To celebrate the abundance of our natural surroundings and bring awareness to our relationship with mother earth, explore our environmental and nature-based programs. These include Wild Church, an outdoor offering where mystery is experienced not explained, and 21st Century Pilgrims: Walking on Holy Ground with Phil McIntyre-Paul.
For an opportunity to engage with timely and fresh topics within the Anglican tradition, explore our second thread of courses. Opening our Hearts to Reconciliation focuses on the relationship between the Anglican Church and Indigenous people. Part history lesson, part lesson of the heart, this course brings together spiritual teacher, Katherine Murray, Simon Fraser University history professor, Dr. Mary-Ellen Kelm, and Diocesan Missioner for Indigenous Justice, Kerry Baisley, who is a member of Métis Nation of BC. The Splash of Words: Believing in Poetry brings Mark Oakley, the Dean of St. John’s College, UK to explore how poetry is the native language of faith and how religion should be a poetic art of spiritual adventure. His book was awarded the international Michael Ramsey prize for theological writing in 2019. Mark is admired as a speaker, preacher and writer who uses humour, human experience and honesty to communicate significantly and memorably.
Our third thread of courses involve experiential spiritual teachings. This year we welcome Clare Morgan, an Anglican priest and community director of Hineni House, an intentional spiritual community of young adults in Vancouver, and Anna Bernhardt, a trained dervish-semazen and Christian. Together, they will lead a pilgrimage through traditional and contemporary spiritual practices used by both Christian and Sufi contemplatives.
For returning favorites and arts-based play, our last thread of courses invite engagement with colour and craft! Professional painter, Karin Huehold, returns to teach creative contemplation via a watercolour mandala course. Students will enjoy a fun, creative experience discovering boundless design possibilities “inside the circle”. Kathie McDuff returns to invite us to cultivate our sense of wonder and sense of play via creative journaling. In Creative Journaling, a theme is presented and participants use words, images and a variety of mixed media techniques to unearth, explore and record their responses, thoughts and emotions.
We invite you to join us this summer and hope you will find our tapestry a beautiful one in its many hues!
