St. Thomas Vancouver

04/02/2026

We have arrived at Maundy Thursday. What do you say? "Have a happy Maundy?" In the post today from SSJE, we are reminded of the significance of the washing of feet. I pray that today I am able to act on my resolve to pass on love, forgiveness and hope. Quoting from Brother Tristram, "That all may, through us, be drawn to and experience God's love, love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."
Just an observation about Easter being more significant than Christmas to Christians, it is a wonder to me that Christ's birth can be so successfully monetized but Christ's death and resurrection not so much...unless of course you count bunnies and chocolate.

03/28/2026

St. Thomas, with the rest of Christendom, celebrates Palm Sunday at 10 AM on March 29th. Please join us-2444 41st Avenue East, Vancouver.

What is Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday?
(This from www.anglicancompass.com.)

Palm Sunday is a day of palm fronds, outdoor processions, and loud praises to Christ. With these practices, we mimic the crowds that went with Jesus on his way into Jerusalem. Like them, we celebrate Christ as the returning King, the son of David, and the long-awaited messiah.

However, when we remember what Jesus went to Jerusalem to do, our celebration becomes more somber. He rode in on a donkey to show his humility, and in humility he soon would rise on a cross. Many parishes mark this movement with both a Liturgy of the Palms and a Liturgy of the Passion, remembering the humble king in his triumph and the humble king on the cross. We also realize, as we play the part of the Jerusalem crowd, just how horribly easy it is to shift from singing “Hosanna” to shouting “Crucify!”

The Journey to the Cross
After this initial period of jubilation in the Palm Sunday service, the liturgy takes a darker turn. We enter into the story we will rehearse over the following week: Jesus’ betrayal, agony, trial, and crucifixion.

Wherever you are on your journey, we can help you grow closer to Jesus through Anglicanism and the Anglican tradition!

03/28/2026

Maundy Thursday: A Rookie Anglican Guide (from www.anglicancompass.com)
Has there ever been a child who didn’t think I was saying Monday Thursday during the Holy Week announcements? Growing up, I thought today was Monday Thursday until about age 14. No one could explain why it was called Maundy Thursday when I finally learned it was Maundy rather than Monday! Friends, I have trekked through the boring dictionaries of liturgy for you! Maundy derives from the Latin mandatum, meaning commandment.

Because Thursday night of Holy Week corresponds to the Last Supper, it includes Jesus saying that this is the night of that New Commandment; in other words, it is New Commandment Thursday. The Eastern Orthodox Church knows it as Great and Holy Thursday.

Maundy Thursday services traditionally include a focus on the Last Supper, as the beginning of the Triduum or the Great Three Days; it is also the institution of the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist, Communion). In many places, a foot washing service is included, and the service often ends with the Stripping of the Altar, an essential Maundy Thursday tradition.

Interestingly, the Stripping of the Altar did not grow out of a liturgical decision made from “on high” (few liturgical developments are planned, but that’s a story for another day). Instead, this tradition developed simply because the altar guilds needed to strip the altar after Maundy Thursday in preparation for the bare, stark altar on Good Friday. People stayed after worship to observe this, and it was soon experienced as a powerful spiritual moment.

Today, the stripping and washing of the altar is often an integral part of Maundy Thursday. Traditionally, there would be no Eucharist on Good Friday. In some places, the sacrament is reserved from Maundy Thursday to be administered on Good Friday. Either way, Maundy Thursday ends with the starkness of the empty, bare altar. Our souls are bare as well as we begin to walk through the rest of the weekend.

Worshipping Somberly
As we enter the Great Three Days, we need to be open to silence, to reverence, and a somber tone. One thing I appreciate about Anglicanism is how it doesn’t shy away from these modes. In some traditions, the tone is always either happy or sad. In the classic Christian tradition, there is another “key” we can worship in during Maundy Thursday.

For example, during the Stripping of the Altar, we sit in silence; we depart in silence. This is not intended to be sad or depressing. It is contemplative, reflective, and reverent. If that’s new for you, try it out this year. Just experience it openly and then reflect on your experience later.

Wherever you are on your journey, we can help you grow closer to Jesus through Anglicanism and the Anglican tradition!

03/28/2026

EASTER AT ST. THOMAS

You are warmly invited to worship with us during
Holy Week 2026:

Palm/Passion Sunday: March 29 at 10 AM with procession of the palms.

Maudy Thursday: April 2 at 7:30 PM with washing of feet.

Good Friday: April 3 at 10:00 AM with Meditation on the Cross of Jesus.

Easter Sunday: April 5 at 10 AM. The Day of Resurrection with Holy Baptism

03/20/2026

You are warmly encouraged to worship with us at St. Thomas Anglican Church, 2444 41st Avenue East, Vancouver. On Sunday, we celebrate the 5th Sunday in Lent with guest preacher Kevin Rolston. Kevin's sermon is titled, "Lazarus! Come out!" Our service of Holy Communion starts at 10 AM. We also stream our services live on YouTube.: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=St.+Thomas+Anglican+Church+Vancouver
We pray we will see you on Sunday.
God’s desire for us is not death but life in all its abundance and we see this most clearly in Jesus who came that we “may have life, and have it abundantly. (A quote from SSJE Brother James Koester, April 10, 2011)

03/12/2026

LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY
ST. THOMAS, VANCOUVER

Prayer forms the bedrock of spirituality as Christians, as well as for other forms of spirituality. We are a people who pray together, and who pray alone. One limitation that we inadvertently can put on our prayer lives is an overly rigid idea of what prayer is. Prayer is multifaceted. Prayer can use words or silence; it can use traditional forms or not. Prayer connects us to God, and by extension to each other. Come and learn with us how to pray.
FIVE TUESDAYS, BEGINNING FEB. 24, 2026
Speakers

Kevin Hunt - The Daily Office Tuesday, February 24
The Daily Office is the traditional practice of regular prayers at various times of the day with the Anglican Church. In this session we shall look at the place and development of the Daily Office in the life of the Church, from early monastic communities, through the Book of Common Prayer to the present day; the practicalities of using the Office; contemporary resources. We shall close by celebrating Night Prayer together.

Jessica Schaap - Embodied Prayer Tuesday, March 3
Prayer is always already embodied because we are beings with bodies. This session will explore the connection between our bodies and our relationship with the divine, self, and other. It will draw on adaptations of yoga-like postures with Christian imagination and intentions. Embodied prayer can help us integrate our whole selves and increase the depth of our faith.
No experience is required and we will move through the postures slowly in a seated position. This form of prayer even has an Anglican heritage! Herbert Slade, SSJE, was an Anglican monk who began an intentional community in 1970s England after spending decades in India learning yoga and thinking deeply about it in relation to Christian thought and practice.

Gene Fraser - Centering Prayer Tuesday, March 10
Centering Prayer is a simple, receptive form of silent prayer that prepares us to rest in God’s presence beyond words, thoughts, and images. Rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the ancient Christian contemplative tradition, Centering Prayer is a prayer of consent to God’s loving presence and action within us. It supports the deepening of one’s relationship of God and complements other forms of prayer such as intercessory prayer, reading of scripture, and liturgy.
This session will offer an accessible introduction for those new to the practice, explore its biblical and theological foundations, and include a short, guided period of Centering Prayer together. No prior experience is required.

Leah Postman - Praying the Psalms Tuesday, March 17
In this workshop, we will explore understanding the psalms as a communal practice – a communal consciousness – that we can import into (and use as a support for) our individual prayer routines. We will pray together a selection of psalms and reflect on ways that this practice may be transformational not only for ourselves, but for our communities and the larger world.

Steve Black - DIY Prayer Tuesday, March 24
Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). This means that prayer can include the whole of our lives, including hobbies, passions, mundane tasks, and more. This workshop will explore “Do It Yourself” prayer that finds and creates prayer in areas and times of our life beyond the church walls and our traditions.

Sessions will be held at St. Thomas Anglican church, 2444 E 41st Avenue, from 7:15pm to 8:45pm. Parking is available on St. Margaret Street, next to the church. Parking is also available on 41st Avenue after 7pm.
If you have questions about this series, please contact the Rev Steve Black, at 604-434-6111, or [email protected].

03/12/2026

You are warmly welcome to gather with us for worship this Sunday, March 15 at 10 AM. St. Thomas' is located at 2444 41st Ave East, Vancouver. This Sunday is special, not just because we are half-way through Lent. But because on Sunday, Jacqueline Koster from Alongside Hope will tell us more about St. Luke's Hospital in Gaza and the impact that our Lent project (donations) will have on the Hospital's ability to meet the needs of people in their vicinity. This is not politics. This is the Christian response to those in need. Follow this link ahead of the service:
https://alongsidehope.org/?s=ST.+Luke%27s+Hospital
I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

02/17/2026

We have arrived at Shrove Tuesday. St. Thomas will gather for a traditional pancake supper so that we can get on with shrivening! It is time to clear out the fridge and the pantry so that we can make our journey, having packed light. Tomorrow morning at 10 AM and tomorrow night, at 7:15 PM St. Thomas gathers again to celebrate (yes!! CELEBRATE) the start of Lent with our Ash Wednesday service. You are warmly invited to participate with us at the church located at 2444 East 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC.

I read from the SSJE each morning. Here is what Brother Geoffrey Tristram of the Society of the Order of St. John the Evangelist writes about Shrove Tuesday and Lent:
"Today is Shrove Tuesday. In the Christian tradition, this day has always been seen as a day of preparation; a day to prepare our bodies and souls for a great journey; the holy season of Lent, which begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday. The word ‘shrove’, from the word shrive, means receiving forgiveness and absolution for our sins, being ‘shriven’, before the start of Lent. And that will happen tomorrow.

We are about to begin a six-week journey, and we need to prepare. Like before any journey, there are bags to be packed, decisions to be made about what to take, and what should be left behind. Seasoned travelers strongly advise us to ‘travel light’. Today, this Shrove Tuesday is the time to ask, ‘What should I leave behind, what can I do without, or sacrifice, so that I can travel light and be available to God on the journey? Then to ask, ‘Where do I want to go? What is the direction I want to take in my Lenten journey? In other words, what is my intention for this Lent? Where have I wandered off the road and how might I need to amend my life, to get back onto the road that God has set before me? What areas of spiritual growth do I need to ask God’s help in dealing with? Lent is a great gift for us if we use it aright." (copied with permission)

Check out what the Brothers of the Order say each day:

A Monastic community in the Anglican Episcopal tradition.

02/05/2026

Come gather with us and Archbishop John Stephens this Sunday, February 8, 2026. Our service of Holy Communion starts at 10 AM. We are located at 2444 East 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC.
The readings for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany guide us through moments of awe, confession, and transformative grace, inviting us to encounter God’s glory and respond to his call.
We look forward to welcoming you and gathering with you.

01/10/2026

On January 11th, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, Jesus. I certainly don't remember my christening as an infant but I vividly remember my Baptism as an adult. I was strongly encouraged by, and lead by, the late Rev. Eric Lowe to go through a period of self-examination before the event. The question he asked me to think about was, if I looked inside of me, at my heart and mind, independent of what I do or which persons I relate to, what colour is my passport, how would I define myself. That is, Christ was asking me, was I ready to be claimed as Christ's own forever? As it turns out, Christ had chosen me long before Eric asked the question. It was up to me do decide to belong to Christ. I may still tell you that I define myself as husband, father, Ringette Referee, handi-person and community volunteer but since that day, I can tell you that I am Christ's. All the others and my abilities may fall away, but Christ will not.
Who am I? Let's review the Baptismal covenant on Sunday; therein lies the answer.
Please join us. 10 AM. 2444 East 41st Ave., Vancouver.

12/24/2025

Tomorrow night, December 24, the community and neighbours of St. Thomas Anglican Church will gather at 7:30 PM to, once again, celebrate the birth of Jesus. You are warmly invited to participate. This is a family friendly service so please include your children, however old they might be! We all look forward to this joyous event. 2444 East 41st Avenue, Vancouver (at St. Margaret St.)

Steve's sermon is titled, "The Perfect Christmas".

The service is preceded by decorating the Christmas tree in the Sanctuary so if you are bringing a decoration, please arrive early so you can get your ornament onto the tree, exactly where you would like it and then find your pew before the Prelude starts. There will be someone there to help get your ornament to the higher branches.
Photo credit to iStock tacojim