Whitehorse Worship Arts Festival

07/07/2026

04/28/2026

‘And awe came upon everyone.’ Wordless amazement. Gratitude.

🌿 We have hit our attendee cap for the 2026 season, and registration for the Whitehorse Worship Arts Festival is closed. 🌿

A busy season of gathering and inviting is now giving way to quiet anticipation. However, if you feel an unshakable stirring to be part of this festival, please reach out to [email protected] to explore what might still be possible.

For all those joining us, we look forward to sharing more as we draw closer to the heart of our gathering.

Until then... may peace, like a summer breeze, blow soft and sweet across the landscape of your belonging.

04/13/2026

⏳ Only 5 spots remain...
As the final seats at the table are claimed, we want to share one of the most tender offerings awaiting those who join us this July: the festival premiere of a brand new healing rite entitled
"In the Gloaming, In the Dawning" (Words by Rev. Erin Thomas, Music by Ben & Caitlin Johnston-Urey).

This liturgy was born out of a profound journey of survival and recovery after Erin was in a severe car accident in May 2025. In the long work of healing, she found herself reaching for liturgical words that could hold what was happening to her body, only to find that the words she needed did not yet exist. So she began to write them.

Already deep in her exploration of embodied theology and the sacred Divine Feminine, Erin's healing journey began to take shape through the imagery of the womb. The rite that has grown out of this work invites us into natural liminal spaces that overlap to become their own sacred seasons — spaces where we can safely explore the deeper identities we carry in the Divine.

To bring these words into being through song, Erin invited composers Ben and Caitlin Johnston-Urey to collaborate with her. What has emerged is a new, permeable, and living liturgical structure with grounded theology and embodied praxis, and we are honoured beyond words to host its first offering to the wider church at this summer's festival.

Rev. Erin Thomas is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, a liturgical innovator, and a contributor to an upcoming hymnal addendum. Her voice — inclusive, embodied, brave — is one we cannot wait to welcome to Whitehorse.
If you have been waiting for a sign: this is a gathering that takes wounds seriously, that trusts the Spirit to speak through bodies and not just concepts, and that believes healing is something we do together.

There are only 5 spots left.
Claim yours, and meet us in the gloaming: www.worshipartsfest.ca/worship

03/23/2026

⏳ Only 15 spots left! Our festival is filling up beautifully, and we are officially nearing our registration cap for this year's gathering.

As we prepare to share this space, we are so deeply honoured to highlight the incredible voices joining our faculty. Today, we are featuring a workshop that speaks directly to the ache and exhaustion of our current moment:

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Spiritual Practices for Change and Resistance (led by Rev. Rob Shearer)
"The world is a mess. Drawing on the wisdom of both Christian monastics and spiritual movements for social change, we'll explore how rooted inner work is an essential foundation for us ordinary folk who wish to be active witnesses of love, grace, truth and justice in times of violence, oppression and disruption. We'll engage living practitioners such as Adrienne Maree Brown, Chung Hyun Kyung, Tricia Hersey and Prentice Hemphill - as well as the often overlooked spiritual practices of 20th century Christian activist forebears such as Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Merton, Howard Thurman and St. Oscar Romero."

If your soul is craving this kind of grounded, restorative work, we invite you to claim one of our final spots at the table.

Explore Rob's session and the rest of our beautiful, diverse workshop offerings here:
www.worshipartsfest.ca/workshops

02/20/2026

Renew your Spirit. Refine your Craft.

Step to the threshold of new understanding at this year's festival, with presenters and workshop leaders engaging current scholarship to unveil an expansive, deeply biblical theology.

Moving beyond safe abstractions, we will explore the theology of the whole—from rediscovering the Divine Feminine within the text to engaging the prophetic imagination. Together, we will reimagine the Holy through a lens that is both intellectually rigorous and creatively liberating.

Crucially, every concept is grounded in practice. You will have the opportunity to explore how to bring these themes to life in your own context through the liturgical arts. Learn how these creative intersections can meet the deep yearnings of those left at the margins, equipping you to lead with confidence in the "church that is becoming."

Explore the full lineup at www.worshipartsfest.ca/presenters

02/20/2026

Ancient Patterns. New Life.

The Whitehorse Worship Arts Festival is grounded in the concept of Ecclesia—the gathering—and using it as a framework for exploring familiar and fresh ways to pray.

Guided by some of Canada’s most respected liturgists and musicians, and supported by a professional festival choir and orchestra, you will experience a spectrum of daily worship offerings that range from the grounding rhythms of the Daily Office and the raw beauty of Wild Church, to the intimacy of dinner church and sacred healing rites.

Return home refreshed in spirit, and equipped with a variety of adaptable worship modalities for the emerging church—practices designed to flourish in communities moving beyond the building.

Discover our full worship schedule and register today:
www.worshipartsfest.ca

02/20/2026

Join us in Canada's "Wilderness City" this July 2–5, 2026, for a four-day immersive gathering designed to heal and inspire.

✈️ Air North travel discounts and Early Bird pricing available now!

Visit www.worshipartsfest.ca to register.

A partnership of the Anglican, Lutheran, and United Church traditions, this practice-forward retreat offers a restorative balance of deep contemplation and vibrant, embodied worship. Moving beyond the typical conference format, this retreat invites clergy, musicians, and lay leaders into a rare convergence of high art and wild landscape.

STEP TO THE THRESHOLD of new understanding with presenters who engage current scholarship to unveil an expansive, deeply biblical theology.

IMMERSE YOURSELF in a variety of worship modalities that breathe new life into ancient patterns, guided by some of Canada’s most respected liturgists and artists and led by a professional orchestra and choir.

Participants will return home refreshed in spirit and equipped with tangible tools to flourish in the shifting landscapes of ministry.