Around Town: Sacred Journeys, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Five Men . . .

Karen Brodie’s Sacred Journeys will be showing at the Italian Cultural Centre from January 22 – April 6.

Karen Brodie has been working for more than a decade on a set of liturgical worship banners – and all 14 of them will be on display for a couple of months at Il Centro, Vancouver’s Italian Cultural Centre.

Sacred Journeys will be open from January 22 until April 6, with a grand opening reception from 7 – 9 pm on the first evening.

Il Centro says of the exhibit:

Il Museo opens its 2026 exhibition year with Karen Brodie’s  powerful textile series, a contemporary reinterpretation of the Stations of the Cross. . . .

In an age dominated by constant digital noise, Sacred Journeys encourages a return to quiet introspection. Each station acts as a mindful pause, prompting visitors to consider their inner world, personal beliefs and shared humanity.

Nancy Heule interviewed Brodie for The HighWay, an online newspaper serving Anglicans in the Diocese of Kootenay. Brodie lives in Golden and attends an Anglican church.

Here is a portion of the article:

The Stations of the Cross, a long Christian tradition, depict up to 14 events during Holy Week. They include images such as Christ carrying the cross or being laid in the tomb. Brodie’s Stations are a contemporary interpretation of this tradition. . . .

Liturgical fibre artist Karen Brodie in her studio.

Each Station of the Cross banner is guided by a reflection written by a diverse group of clergy. Many of the designs feature the figure of Jesus plus his cross.

Although thoroughly modern, her work is immediately recognizable as liturgical art used to enrich worship. It is impeccably executed in rich colour palettes and a variety of fabrics.

Angela Clarke, curator of the Vancouver exhibition, says in a statement that the liturgical banners “seek to engage the viewer in a contemplative practice.”

She adds, “Brodie’s Stations of the Cross is a nondenominational focused meditation, which all of us, regardless of our spiritual background and beliefs can participate in.” . . .

After finishing a degree in fashion design in Surrey, Brodie, in her early twenties at the time, made her first banner for a church in Vancouver where she worked in youth ministry. It helped her launch her career as a full-time, internationally recognized fabric artist.

Brodie will be hosting three gatherings during the run of the show:

• January 22, 7 – 9 pm: Grand Opening of Sacred Journeys
• January 27, 1 – 3 pm: Sacred Textile Art Gathering
• January 29, 1 – 5 pm: Demonstration and Q&A

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Members of various Geneva churches gathered for the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 22 January 2025. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

Members of a wide variety of churches will be praying together during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Hosting churches are mainly Catholic, but Anglican, Mennonite and nondenominational congregations are also involved.

Here is the description (and schedule) on the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver site:

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an annual ecumenical celebration. Christians around the world are invited to pray for the unity of all Christians, to reflect on scripture together, to participate in jointly-organized ecumenical services and to share fellowship.

In the northern hemisphere, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is traditionally held every year between January 18 (the Feast of the Confession of Saint Peter) and January 25 (the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul). 

In the Gospel of John, Christ prays for his disciples before going to the cross. He asks that his followers “may all be one,” as he and the Father are one, “so that the world may believe” and have life in his name (John 17). Christian unity is here made central to the very being of the church and to its mission and witness.

Today, we live with divisions even as we yearn for the unity promised and commissioned by Christ. The long and often painful history of Christianity has sundered our churches for theological, liturgical, and political reasons. Many Christians now strive to heal these divisions, yet honour our diversity, through ecumenical dialogue, common action, and relationship-building. They also come together to pray for unity, joining Christ in his prayer to the Father.

The worldwide celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is both the seed and the fruit of this striving for ‘unity in diversity’. This time of shared prayer, reflection, and fellowship invites Christians of different traditions to deepen our relationships and to live and witness together throughout the year.

Ecumenical prayer services

Sunday, January 18

• 12 pm Valley CrossWay Church, Abbotsford

Tuesday, January 20

• 11 am St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Abbotsford

Wednesday,  January 21

• 3:30 pm John Paul II Pastoral Centre, Vancouver
• 5:30 pm St. Mark’s Catholic Church, UBC, Vancouver

Thursday, January 22

• 7 pm Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond
• 7:30 pm St. Thomas Anglican Church, Vancouver (co-hosted with St. Mary’s Catholic Church)

Friday, January 23

• 6:30 pm Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Delta
• 7 pm St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, West Vancouver

Saturday, January 24

• 1 pm St. Peter’s Catholic Church, New Westminster
• 11:30 am St. Laurence Anglican Church, Coquitlam (with All Saints Catholic Church)

Go here for listings on the Archdiocese of Vancouver site and here for the Canadian Council of Churches WPCU page.

Five men
Paul Hughes wrote an interesting blog post about mentoring and discipling a small group of men for Faith Today in December.

Here is a portion:

All of us have too many recent examples of Christian leaders and friends or former church community members we once admired who have failed to live out courageous, loving, committed lives of discipleship. I wanted to break that trend if it was my last effort on this earth. 

I started by soliciting all the men in the church with an email like this: 

I have felt strongly from the LORD that I am to mentor, disciple, and pour into a handful of approximately 5 or so of you who are hungry to receive what I have learned in the several decades of my journeying with Christ. 

The conditions are that you have to be hungry, willing to learn deeply, able to make every meeting and committed to doing your part because there will be some reading and assignments. 

I look forward to hearing back from some of you for whom this rings true in your heart. I think you will know who you are. 

Thank you for privileging me with the opportunity to share this journey with you. 

My email provoked responses from several men at The River Fellowship (the church I pastor with my wife Heidi). Six were ready to begin, and five stayed through to the end. Some came from stable family backgrounds, others from broken ones. More than half had done graduate studies or moved into them shortly after. Some were athletes with Canadian titles. A few had lived lurid pasts of drugs and sexual promiscuity. 

Paul Hughes has a PhD in Hebrew and Old Testament studies from the University of Edinburgh and taught biblical studies at Trinity Western University for just under 12 years before planting The River Fellowship in Langley with his wife 19 years ago. 

Events are listed below, but there is also an Events page and a Jobs page on the Church for Vancouver site.