Events
Upcoming Events
ILLUMINATE Gala
Friday, November 14
6-9pm
Save the date, get your tickets, and plan to join in for an evening of performances and art at the annual ILLUMINATE Gala!
The ILLUMINATE Gala is St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary’s main annual fundraising event, and has been highly lauded and greatly enjoyed. We are delighted to host this pre-Advent event.
The evening showcases performances and art by community members and long-standing friends of St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary. The event includes a Silent Auction of assorted art and related items, both lovely and whimsical at price ranges for all. And delectable refreshments.
This year we are delighted to feature the Drag stylings of Bona Seraphina and Delica Cee! Also joining us are friends and community favourites Celeste Snowber – dancer, poet, writer, and Cal Morgan – singer, songwriter, Celtic harpist.
So, put on your Advent blue, invite a friend, and plan to join us!
To pay by cheque or e-transfer you can contact the office at 604-266-8011.
If you would like to make a direct donation you can visit our website here. Please note “ILLUMINATE” in message line.
Detail from “Blue Christ” by Wendy L. Fletcher. Photo by Sandra Vander Schaaf.
Erotics of Cutting Grass: Reflections from a Well-Loved Life
Friday, October 24
6:30-8pm
Forget everything you think you know about growing older. Kate Braid’s perspective is anything but conventional. In her latest book, The Erotics of Cutting Grass, Kate weaves together love stories to life and living, dismantling the tired clichés about aging and the female body. From weightlifting in her senior years to questioning why older people in love are seen as “cute,” but not “hot,” and even delving into the mysteries of “remembering” past lives, Kate’s stories are a refreshing take on what it means to age with audacity.
The Erotics of Cutting Grass is a celebration of life’s later chapters, written with the same unique mix of humour, frankness, and vulnerability Kate’s readers have come to know and love. Join her on this smart, thought-provoking journey that redefines what it means to embrace aging on your own terms.
Join us for an unforgettable evening of poetry and prose and Kate reads selections of her newest book and share reflections on her creative process. Copies of The Erotics of Cutting Grass will be available for purchase and signing.
All are welcome!
Past Events
Named & Nameless
Saturday, October 11
2pm
A warm invitation to an afternoon with poet Susan McCaslin, as she shares readings and reflections from her new collection of poetry Named & Nameless (Inanna Publications).
Come for conversation and community.
About the book:
In this new collection of poetry, Susan McCaslin explores the meaning and significance of identity and all that can be found in a name, or, lack thereof. Mixing the personal with the societal, McCaslin explores her own past and women’s continued role in child-rearing. This dreamlike series of encounters with nature and the divine invites deep reflection through re-discovering the familiar. Her joyful wordplay invites us to notice the tiniest details and contemplate the divine
About Susan:
Susan McCaslin is a poet from Langley BC who has been writing since the age of twelve when she discovered the magic of great books and the power of poetic language. Her most recent volume of poetry is titled Named & Nameless (Inanna Publications). She is drawn to ancient mythology and the mystical traditions of many cultures and religions and experiences poetry as a musicality arising from silence. She has authored twenty volumes of poetry, twelve chapbooks, two poetry anthologies, a memoir, a volume of essays, a volume of creative non-fiction, and a collaborative book with J.S Porter on Thomas Merton titled Superabundantly Alive: Thomas Merton’s Dance with the Feminine (2018). She completed her Ph.D. in English Literature at UBC in 1984 and taught English and Creative Writing at Douglas College in New Westminster, BC for twenty-three years. In 2012, she initiated the Han Shan Poetry Project, which drew on poetry to help save an endangered forest in Glen Valley near her home.
Creating in Dangerous Times
Saturday, July 12
4pm
You are invited to an afternoon with author Celeste Snowber on July 12 at 4pm as she shares readings and reflections from her new book, “Creating in Dangerous Times.” A universal invitation to reclaim our human birthright of creativity, each poem serves as a timely incantation for creative malaise. Designed to stir the memory of our shared humanity, Snowber explores themes of presence and the healing arts, gently nudging us all the while to reawaken, reflect upon, and reconnect with our latent creativity. It is a beautiful and necessary guide and a deeply empathetic approach to healing and reconciling ourselves, one another, and the planet.
Come for conversation and community; all are welcome.
About the Author
Celeste Nazeli Snowber, PhD is a dancer, poet, and writer who is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. She has published and performed widely, and her books include Embodied inquiry: Writing, living and being through the body, and three collections of poetry. Celeste creates site-specific performance and can be found dancing between land and sea and at celestesnowber.com.
Honouring Creation
Friday, June 13
6pm
In honour of Indigenous History Month our next art exhibit will feature the work of five diverse Indigenous artists in our midst. We are delighted to feature the art of Cat Aldred (Cree/Métis artisan), Kerry Baisley (Métis artisan and wild crafter), Hubert Barton (Nisga’a photographer), Todd Giihlgiigaa (Haida cedar weaver), and Rikki Kooy (Secwepemc/St’atl’imc texile artist).
The exhibit celebrates “creation” as both noun and verb – and ultimately the Creator Spirit who inspires all.
We hope you will join us on Friday, June 13 at 6 PM for the Opening Event, which will include a panel conversation with the artists. The exhibit will then remain up for the summer months.
Image courtesy of Cat Aldred.
Revered Roots ~ Ancestral Teachings and Wisdom of Plants
Saturday, May 10
2-4pm
Join in celebrating the beautiful new book by Indigenous Métis herbalist LoriAnn Bird: Revered Roots: Ancestral Teachings and Wisdom of Wild, Edible, and Medicinal Plants. *
We will meet in the new “Viriditas” Contemplative Garden. LoriAnn will tell us about her book, which connects readers to the ancestral wisdom of over 90 wild edible and medicinal plants from across North America. Then, with LoriAnn’s assistance, we will consider the uses of the plants found in the garden. The garden is a mixture of Indigenous and settler plants as an embodiment of reconciliation, and features a selection of pollinator-friendly plants, herbs, and edible plants.
We are delighted to have this opportunity to learn more from LoriAnn!
Registration is free, but space is limited, so register for your spot today.
* NOTE: The book is available through Massey Books and Banyen Books. If you bring along your copy, LoriAnn will be delighted to sign it!
Creating Home & Hope
Friday, May 2
6pm
You are warmly invited to an opening of the new exhibit, “Creating Hope and Home,” featuring the work of Zainab Sultani. An Afghan artist and student, Zainab newly arrived in Canada in August of 2022 and her paintings reflect her memories of her home country, the time her family spent in India–where she first started exploring her artistic expression–and the move to her new home here in Canada. These fifteen pieces, which straddle the time Zainab was in India as well as her time here in Canada, will be on display at the church starting on May 2 through early June.
The art opening will include time for participants to hear from Zainab about her journey and the ways that her art has helped her to navigate to a new sense of home and hope.
All are welcome, light refreshments will be provided.
Sacred Time
Thursday, March 13
6-7pm
Explore the rhythms of sacred time through the festivals of the church year in the Orthodox Church through the iconography of Alina Smolyansky. In the newest exhibit at St. Faith’s, on display now through Holy Week, Alina shares a series of twelve commissioned icons for the twelve major feasts of the Orthodox calendar. In this presentation you are invited to listen in on a conversation between Alina Smolyansky and Kerry Baisley about sacred time and the unique patterns of the Orthodox Church. Participants will also have the opportunity to engage with the icons on exhibit as well as engage with the presenters following the presentation.
This is a free event for the whole community. All are welcome.
About the Artist
Alina Smolyansky specializes in traditional egg tempera art, particularly Eastern Orthodox icons, and is one of the few North American teachers skilled in egg tempera and icon painting. Alina’s goal is to preserve the purity of colors and historical significance in iconography. Her passion lies in sharing the beauty of spiritual traditions and the wonders of nature through her artwork and teachings. You can learn more about Alina and her art on her website at lettherebelightart.com.
Print Workshop
Saturday, March 1
10-3pm
Join us in learning the art of printing making with artist the Most Rev.Melissa Skelton. Melissa’s delightful art work is currently featured in our gallery through February 26. This workshop is being offered by popular request!
Registration is $50 and the cost includes craft knife, Speedball Lino/rubber stamp cutter, paper, ink etc. You will take home a carved block, a small print, craft knife and the Speedball tool with an assortment of gouges. Light refreshments provided. Bring your own lunch. We want our events to be broadly accessible. Please let us know should cost be an impediment, contact us directly at office@stfaiths.ca.
BE LOVED: Chocolate & Poetry
Saturday, February 8
1-3pm
Our popular chocolate and poetry event returns… BE LOVED!
Share poetry and chocolate in celebration of belovedness!
You are invited to bring a favourite love poem to the Holy along with your creative spirit. Come ready to create delectable chocolate treats while considering the spirituality of chocolate.
Please note, we try to keep costs low, but please let us know should cost be an impediment. Contact us directly at info@sthildegards.ca
You are BELOVED!
St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary is an affirming, arts-based, contemplative Christian community that gathers on the ancestral, traditional, unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples.
Taking Flight
Thursday, January 9
6-7:30pm
Our next art opening, featuring the works of the Most Rev. Melissa Skelton, retired Archbishop, is scheduled for Thursday, January 9, at 6pm.
The very first piece of original art that Archbishop Skelton received was while she was at university, and was an engraving by a now well-known animator for the American film industry. From that moment on, she was enamored of ink on paper of all kinds: letterpress, screen printing, lithography, and more. Shortly before her retirement as Archbishop, she began studying letterpress, which led to linocut, which led to other types of carving and printing. The pieces in this show are all from hand-carved and hand-printed blocks–ink on paper, enhanced by colour, pattern, and play.
Join us for an evening of art and conversation as we explore Archbishop Skelton’s work and hear a short presentation by the artist. Refreshments will be served, all are welcome.
This show will remain on display from January 9 through the end of February and will be viewable by the public during the week, Tuesday-Friday from 9am-4:30pm, as well as on Sundays between services.
Artwork courtesy of Melissa Skelton
All Creatures Great and Small
Friday, December 6
6-7:30pm
You are cordially invited to the opening of “kahkiyaw pisiskiwak kâ-misikiticik asici kâ-apisîsisicik – All Creatures Great and Small,” featuring the work of Cat Aldred, a Cree and Metis artisan, scholar and aunty from Grande Prairie, AB, now living in Richmond, BC. Cat has a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies and First Nations Bible translation from McGill University. She enjoys trying to capture animals and their “joie de vivre” in her art. Drawing inspiration from Cree, Metis and Ojibwe artists she is familiar with, Cat describes her style as “essentially Cree, with a hint of irony and a dash of whimsy.”
The exhibit opening will run from 6-7:30pm and will include a talk by the artist as well as opportunity to engage in conversation with Cat. Prints and greeting cards of her work will be available for sale. Light refreshments will be provided.
All are welcome!
Being a Good Ancestor
A journey on the path of truth and reconciliation | June 2023 – June 2024
Who we are today is built on the stories, actions, and wisdom of our ancestors.
In this year-long series of conversations and programs, we will explore and inhabit the relationships and commitments that we make in our daily lives toward the ongoing work of truth and reconciliation, as in so doing we honour the stories of those who came before us and add to those stories for those who will come after us.
All are warmly welcome to join in conversations and hands-on learning opportunities as we ask ourselves what it means to be a good ancestor. We will welcome and learn from various Indigenous elders and artists over the course of the year, beginning and ending in Indigenous History Month 2023/2024.
In this year-long series of conversations and programs, we will explore and inhabit the relationships and commitments that we make in our daily lives toward the ongoing work of truth and reconciliation, as in so doing we honour the stories of those who came before us and add to those stories for those who will come after us.
These workshops and programs are subsidized by the Diocese of New Westminster, St. Philip’s Anglican Church, St. Faith’s Anglican Church, and St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary. We strive to make each program accessible and affordable for all who wish to participate–any program fees go directly to material costs and honorariums for the artists and elders.
Participate in the Series
We are actively scheduling the events in this series. As full details and registration becomes available for each workshop, they will be linked here. Please check back soon for more information.
Practical Ways to be an Accomplice in the Journey of Reconciliation
2 June 2023, 6-8pm
How do we share the responsibility of the disruptive work of reconciliation? Join in conversation and learning with Rikki Kooy, Racelle Kooy, and Kerry Baisley as we start on our year-long learning journey as we continue to walk the path of truth and reconciliation.
Breaking the Silence: Weaving Cedar Rattles
15 July 2023, 11am-4pm
Join Haida cedar weaver, Giihlgiigaa (Todd Devries) and learn about the significance of cedar for many Indigenous people, its uses, and the wisdom we can learn from it as you weave your own cedar rattle. Space is limited to 20 participants, be sure to register today!
Beading Workshop
23 September 2023, 1:30-4:30pm
The Metis were called “The Flower Beadwork People” by some First Nations People in response to the beautiful work created by the Metis women. Lead by Kerry Baisley, in this workshop we will be introduced to Metis beading and go on to learn different beading techniques as we create a beaded Orange Shirt pin as we will talk about the Residential School experience of Phyllis Webstad and how Orange Shirt Day came into being.
Drum Making Workshop
14 October 2023, 11:00am-4:00pm
We honoured to learn from Michael “Sabian” Rawcliffe * who will lead this workshop in drum making. Participants will each make a drum under Sabian’s guidance.
Dream Catcher Workshop
13 January 2024
Start the new year by making a dream catcher for your home. We are honored to once again learn from Michael “Sabian” Rawcliffe who will lead this workshop. Participants will each make a dream catcher under Sabian’s guidance.
From Wardship to Rights: Exploring the Effects of Colonization
23 & 24 February, 14 & 16 March, 2024
A four-part program in February and March as we learn about the history of colonization in our own neighbourhoods. There will be two learning sessions and two field trips as a part of this program.
Concluding Feast
June 14, 2024
Join us for our concluding celebration as we look back over the past year, share stories and food, and look ahead to how each of us will continue this journey of reconciliation. This is a free event, hosted at the Synod Office of the Diocese of New Westminster, and food will be provided.