We Together is a diocesan conference hosted by the Diocese of Islands and Inlets every other year. The aim of the conference is to strengthen connections across the diocese. This year’s We Together will take place on Nov. 14-15 at St. Paul’s, Nanaimo.
On Friday evening, Nov. 14, there will be a banquet at St. Paul’s, with a keynote talk from John Thatamanil. John will explore the conference theme “God is Not Elsewhere.” His talk will ask and attempt to answer the question: if God is not elsewhere, God must be available to experience here and now, so what wisdom and practices do we need to access the love that is not in hiding?
John is professor of theology and world religions at Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York, an Anglican priest and diocesan theologian for the Diocese of Islands and Inlets.
READ: A preview of John Thatamanil’s We Together 2025 talk
The next day, Saturday, Nov. 15, participants will be able to choose from a range of workshops, all exploring the conference’s theme in a variety of ways.
Jenny Replogle, canon for lay-led parishes and parishes-in-transition and currently interim executive archdeacon, will lead a workshop on The Benedictine Life in Congregations. The workshop will look at the principles of Benedictine life — stability, obedience, conversion of life — and explore what they have to offer those called to lead the church today. The workshop will draw on both the depths of our faith tradition as well as organization development and change processes to enable clergy to lead and thrive in the places where they are called.
Jonathan Thomas, dean and rector of Christ Church Cathedral, will lead a primer on children’s spirituality. The workshop will use the “wondering questions” technique from the Godly Play Foundation, to explore how to lead children (and adults new to the faith) deeper into the stories of our faith — and the realization that they are characters in this holy narrative.
In his workshop, Hopeful Realism and the Call to Mutual Encouragement, Gordon T Smith, executive director of Christian Higher Education Canada, will look at how we can cultivate the capacity to name reality while sustaining a resilient hopefulness in the fact of a polarized and authoritarian age. To this end, clergy can be a means of encouragement to others — in the homily, writing, spiritual direction, or any one-on-one conversation.
Denise Doerksen, incumbent at Holy Trinity, North Saanich, and Christine Conkin, incumbent of St. George’s, Cadboro Bay, will both be leading workshops on creativity and spirituality, Denise through art and Christine through the medium of dance. Denise’s workshop will ask: what might it mean to be co-artists with God as Divine Artist? There will be discussions and artistic exercises.
Christine’s workshop will ask: in a world that so highly values leadership, how do we learn to engage Jesus’ call to “Follow me!”? What are the dynamics of following and leading? Lessons from the dance floor will help participants deepen their practice of faithfully following Jesus in the church and beyond.
Brendon Neilson, executive director of the diocese, will lead a workshop on metaphor, how metaphor works and what that means for our experience of this life, our theologies and how we embody our convictions.
To register for We Together, visit the event page on the diocesan website. The deadline to register for We Together is Nov. 3. Some travel grants are available if you require financial aid to participate in the conference.
