BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260916T124034Z UID:850-493044@bc.anglican.ca DTSTART:20251115T020000Z DTEND:20251116T003000Z CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20251027T071559 DESCRIPTION:

\nWe Together is our regular (once every other year) diocesan c onference to remind us of the ways we are connected\; we are stronger toge ther. We are bound in countless ways\, in our structures\, in our prayers\ , and through the stories we tell. We are each other's concern\, and we ar e each other's gift.\nThis year is God Is Not Elsewhere. The God of our sc riptures and stories\, the God of our traditions and rites\, the God who w hispers through music and poetry\, is the God moving here and now. Not jus t in times and places long ago and far away\, but within our places\, our communities and our people. This year's We Together will highlight the gif ts of a selection of people from our diocese\, as we reflect together on s ome of the ways that the God who is in our midst is stirring and calling u s on our journey together. We will eat and laugh\, we will learn and be ch allenged\, and together we will be nourished for our journey. \nThe confe rence will begin on Friday evening November 14th with an evening banquet a t St Pauls in Nanaimo followed by an opening address. On Saturday we will gather at St. Pauls for a full day of workshops featuring our speakers Joh n Thatamanil\, Jonathan Thomas\, Jenny Replogle\, Christine Conkin\, Gordo n Smith\, Brendon Neilson and Denise Doerksen.\nThere is a poster attached at the bottom of this event page if you wish to print this information an d post it.\nFinancial Aid Information\nIf you would like to attend but the costs are unaffordable\, please select the subsidized ticket rate and we will be in touch with you about completing the grant form. Funds have been provided by the Education Trust Board with the requirement that a form be completed. The available grants will cover travel\, food and accommodatio n\, not the cost of the ticket to attend. There is max. of $175/person and funds will be distributed according to the Diocesan Travel Reimbursement Policy. To review this policy please visit www.bc.anglican.ca.\nAll grant funds will be mailed by cheque after the event is over and once the form i s complete.\nSchedule\nNovember 14\, 2025 Friday Evening\n5:30pm Doors ope n and Registration\n6:00pm Banquet and opening session\n9:00pm End of Even t\nNovember 15\, 2025 Saturday\n8:45am Doors open with Coffee &\; Regis tration\n9:15am Opening prayer and welcome\n9:30-10:30am Session I or II ( Participants will have a choice) with Jonathan or Jenny\n10:30-11:00am Cof fee break\n11:00am-12:00pm Session III or IV (Participants will have a cho ice) with Denise or Gordon\n12:00-1:15pm Lunch (Lunch not provided)\n1:30- 2:30pm Session V or VI (Participants will have a choice) with Christine or Brendon\n2:30-3:15pm Final Group Session (Everyone) with John J Thatamani l\n3:30-4:30pm Closing Eucharist with Bishop Anna\n4:30pm End of day\nSpea kers &\; Talks\n

\nJohn J. Thatamanil\nThe Love that Is Not In Hiding: If God is not elsewhere\, God must be available to exp erience here and now. What wisdom and practices do we need to access the l ove that is not in hiding? Recalling Karl Rahner's dictum\, "The Christi an of the future will be a mystic or not at all\," this talk suggests that an embodied encounter with divine immanence is desperately needed to brin g Christian spirituality into maturity. \nJohn J. Thatamanil is Profess or of Theology and World Religions at Union Theological Seminary in the Ci ty of New York. He is the author of Circling the Elephant: A Comparative Theology of Religious Diversity (2020) and The Immanent Divine: God\, Cr eation\, and the Human Predicament\; An East-West Conversation. His areas of research include theologies of religious diversity\, comparative theolo gy\, philosophical theology\, and ecotheology. He is committed to seeking interreligious wisdom by learning from the practices and insights of other religious traditions. He is also a Past President of the North American P aul Tillich Society. \nJohn is an Anglican Priest in and Diocesan Theolo gian for the Diocese of Islands and Inlets. John was born in Kerala\, In dia and migrated to the US as a child when he was just shy of 9. He traces his love for Indian religious traditions to his desire to learn more abou t what it means to be an Indian kid growing up in the US.\nJohn is marrie d to Kate Newman who is the Religious Educator at Christ Church Cathedral School and currently a PhD student at the University of Victoria. He is fa ther to Moses Dryden and Kate Fulton-John. The “Two Kates” problem is a source of regular hilarity at home.\n

\nJenny Replogle\nGod is Not Elsewhere: The Benedictine Life in Congregations: During this wor kshop\, we will draw on the principles of the Benedictine Life and explore together what they have to offer to us called to lead the church today. T hrough stability\, we practice recognizing God’s presence among us in th is particular place and time. In obedience\, we will consider practices th at help us listen with open hearts and minds to those God has called us to share life with. From that place\, we will explore what conversion of lif e will look like for us and our communities as we are transformed more int o the body of Christ. As we explore this way of life together\, we will dr aw on both the depths of our faith tradition as well as organization devel opment and change processes to enable us as clergy to lead and thrive in t he places we are called. \nJenny serves as Canon for Lay-led Parishes and Parishes-in-Transition and Interim Executive Archdeacon. In her role\, sh e helps to empower\, train\, and equip ministry in parishes that do not ha ve permanent clergy\, to help them be more faithful\, healthy\, and effect ive in their particular contexts. She also works with parishes who are in a transition of clergy leadership and clergy interested in serving parishe s in our diocese. She is passionate about working with individuals and com munities as they discern how God is calling them in their own unique minis tries\, bringing the processes and work of our Church in line with the fai th and values we profess\, keeping our baptismal vows to seek and serve Ch rist in all persons\, and holding the dignity of every human being at the centre of our work.\n

\nJonatha n Thomas\n\nWondering Through the Bible: A Primer on Children's Spirituali ty - Children's formation needs to begin by simply teaching them to know a nd love the foundational stories of our faith. To do that\, they need to n ot only hear the stories\, but enter into them\, embody them\, and learn t hat they are their stories. Using the "wondering questions" technique from the Godly Play Foundation\, we will explore how to lead children (and adu lts new to the faith) deeper into the stories and the realization that the y are characters in this holy narrative. The techniques and spirituality o f Godly Play can be used\, even without the materials\, to enliven the sto ries and deepen faith.\nThe Very Rev. Jonathan Thomas is dean and rector o f Christ Church Cathedral. He went to Princeton Theological Seminary think ing he would get a doctorate in theology but found that his real passion w as for teaching regular people in churches why our faith matters in our da ily lives. He is a trained Godly Play instructor\, has two young kids of h is own\, and probably loves teaching children most of all.\n\n

\nGordon T Smith\nHopeful Realism and the Call to Mutual Encoura gement: We need to cultivate the capacity to name reality while sustaining a resilient hopefulness. To this end we turn from both toxic positivi ty and cynicism. We avoid both the way of despair and despondency and the way of “never is heard a discouraging word.” We face reality and we know the way of lament. We feel the full force of the brokenne ss of our family systems\, our neighbourhoods and our world\, including Ga za and the Sudan. But we do not despair\; we sustain a resilient hope even in the fact of a polarized and authoritarian age. And in the face of deep wrong\, we discern what to say and what to do\, without pretendin g to be heroes or magicians. Can we do this? We must: for the sake of the church and for each parishioner – whether called into business\, the arts or education or the domestic sphere. To this end\, we cultiv ate the capacity to be a means of encouragement to others – either in th e homily\, or our writing or in spiritual direction or any one-on-one conv ersation.\nGordon T Smith is the executive director of Christian Higher Ed ucation Canada\; he is a former university president and seminary professo r and continues as a Teaching Fellow at Regent College\, Vancouver. He is the author of a number of publications\; upcoming – In the Me antime: Living in Light of the Ascension [Cascade\, 2025]. He and his wife\, Joella\, live in the Southern Gulf Islands and typically worship at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria on the week-ends. \n

\nDenise Doerksen\nArt Can Save Us!: The loss of the pr esence and practice of art is a loss of a spirituality that impacts everyt hing truly valuable in life. What might it mean to reclaim our generative potential for being co-artists with God as Divine Artist? This and other q uestions will be the foundation for presentations\, discussions\, and arti stic exercises. \nThe Rev. Denise Doerksen is currently serving as the in cumbent at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in North Saanich. She is a textile and fibre artist who is passionate about creating art and fashion that is eco-friendly and sustainable. She is also an iconographer and has written icons of St. George\, St. Elijah\, and Theotokos Oranta. \n

\nChristine Conkin\nFol lowing Jesus - Leading in Community: Lessons from the dance floor. In a wo rld that so highly values leadership\, how do we learn to engage Jesus' ca ll: "Follow me!"? What are the dynamics of following and its dynamic relat ionship with leading? Social swing dancing offers a unique perspective an d opportunity to learn good followship with joy and rhythm. These lessons from the dance floor help us deepen our practice of faithfully following J esus in the church and beyond.\nThe Rev. Christine Conkin has served in or dained ministry since 2006 in both Calgary and Victoria. Her spiritual lif e is grounded in dance and a variety of active outdoor activities\, which combine with her biblical and theological studies to inform her interest i n the transformation of today’s church. She is currently Incumbent of St . George\, Cadboro Bay in Victoria\, BC.\n

\nBrendon Neilson\nWithout Metaphor\, No Saving God: We often think of metaphor as a more abstract form of thought and speech than more 'literal' forms\, but what if I told you it was indee d the opposite? In this session we will explore briefly together how metap hor works\, and what that means for our experience of this life\, and how that works into our theologies and how we embody our convictions. Metaphor is central to theology and connects us to the past\, and to our physical world in beautiful ways. \nBrendon Neilson has worked in the synod office since 2018 and currently serves as Executive Director of the Diocese. He has an underlying conviction that faith is made true in the living of it. While property issues and redevelopment projects take up most of his time these days\, the question of what faithfulness looks like in the systems a nd structures of our diocese is central to how he approaches the work. \n \n \n LAST-MODIFIED:20251027T071559 LOCATION: SUMMARY:We Together 2025 URL;VALUE=URI:https://bc.anglican.ca/events/we-together-2025/2025-11-14 ATTACH;FILENAME=LOGO 1_WETOG2025.png;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://dq5pwpg1q8ru 0.cloudfront.net/2025/10/24/23/42/39/29c64fd2-40b4-4acb-940a-ee4476bc080b/ LOGO%201_WETOG2025.png ATTACH;FILENAME=We Together 2025 Poster_Final.png;FMTTYPE=image/png:https:/ /dq5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net/2025/10/27/14/15/59/0f4190dd-a44c-4b10-b2b7- 17e93466aac1/We%20Together%202025%20Poster_Final.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR