On Sept. 27, 2025, women from across the diocese gathered for the final women’s retreat. Attendance at the retreat has declined in recent years, reflecting broader trends of diminishing stability and participation within Western church communities — an issue resonant with the theme of the conference, “Keeping the Faith in the Turbulent 2020s.”
The fall 2025 retreat was held at Camp Pringle, where we have been meeting since Camp Columbia’s closure in 2011.
Bishop Anna and Christine Conkin, incumbent at St. George, Cadboro Bay, served as retreat leaders, bringing a constructive and thoughtful approach to the topic of turbulence. Each participant had encountered periods of turbulence in their personal lives, and the Bible offers numerous narratives on navigating challenging times.
We talked about how our lives take place within the boundaries of an empire, recognising that all empires eventually collapse, which means we must work together to rebuild and persevere through hardship.
We also explored the role of prophets as catalysts for change, bearers of truth and conveyors of divine messages, who play a vital part in challenging and dismantling existing structures of power.
We are called to return to principles of justice and recognize that the challenges we face are shared by all, necessitating collaborative solutions. Contemporary society is marked by pronounced individualism and a culture of exclusion. From a Christian perspective, it is important to adhere to the teachings of the prophets, who emphasised collective responsibility rather than individual pursuits. We do not navigate these issues in isolation; success depends on our willingness to work together as a unified community.
Over the years, the women’s retreat has been led by an amazing community of women. Brenda Dhaene, lay canon, is retiring after 18 years of dedicated leadership. Indeed, Brenda has spent most of her life in service to women. As a schoolgirl in Ireland, she was part of the Legion of Mary, which provided care to elderly, bedridden women. Upon immigrating to Canada in 1962, she volunteered at Madonna House, a halfway house supporting women recently released from prison, and assisted at the Mercer Reformatory for Women in Toronto by playing music for Sunday mass.
Many others contributed to the women’s retreat over the years, including Carol Ann Zenger, Julie Foster, Diane Hutchinson, Barb Coleman, Diane Bell, Cathy Beise and Nancy Ford, among others.
