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St. Mary’s Metchosin Challenge
Sharleen Thompson 18 Feb. 2025

St Mary’s Metchosin has put together its 9th annual Lenten Challenge!

St Mary’s church challenges all the community to live better by being more aware of the issues facing our world, so we can be empowered to act to make our world a better place.

This Challenge is in the form of a speaker series, designed for a general audience on a wide range of topics. This year, for the first time, we are having a non-secular topic, exploring modern religion. We are reaching out to the whole community, not just Anglicans, trying to look at the religions around us from different perspectives:  what are some of the issues, different forms of worship and big issues facing us?

Time: 7pm Tuesday nights during Lent, March 11th - April 15th 

Place: St Mary’s Church, 4125 Metchosin Rd (across from the Golf Course).

All but one of the presenters will be there in person, but we offer a Zoom option as well so those not in Victoria can attend. Here is the zoom link. https://vst.zoom.us/j/89279807957?pwd=ITcX9fLKiSCEhVJj7mAJHoC8bMLitz.1

Schedule:

March 11th: The Venerable Dr. Lon Towstego will look at religion as community and in the community.

March 18th: Margaret O’Donnell will present on the Taizé way of being together by many types of Christians.

March 25th: The Rev Dr. Ross Lockhart will speak on how the very secular Pacific Northwest is different from the rest of the continent and the challenges that it brings. He is from St Andrew’s Hall and Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, so will be presenting on Zoom.

April 1st: The Rev Dr. Travis O’Brian will speak on Mystery in the Church; the draw and the role of it in modern faith.

April 8th: Patricia Lane, a lawyer who challenges the churches to be the leaders in the climate and environmental struggles. Patricia will present on how the Canadian Churches can or should respond to President Trump.

April 15th: Christ Church Cathedral Dean Jonathan Thomas: what is spirituality? So many people say that they aren’t religious, but they are spiritual. They usually try to end the conversation this way, but what are they saying? What is spirit anyway?

St Mary’s is hoping that other congregations will join us in-person or by Zoom and listen to the ideas and participate in the conversations around them.

We are hoping all of this deepens our thoughts and enlivens our conversations and maybe even propel action in some people.

 

Past speakers: Elizabeth May, Andy Mackinnon, Wally Eamer, and Herbert O’ Driscoll. 

Past themes:

  • Big Issues Facing the World
  • Climate Change
  • Native Relations
  • Species Diversity
  • Human Rights Issues
  • Empower People for Action
  • Little Things That You Can Do to Make a Difference
  • Hope in a Changing World
  • Embracing Change
  • What Are Children Worrying About
  • Issues in Our Own Health. 

Some presentations from past years are available on our website. 

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