About

The Emmaus Community is a Neo-Monastic and intentional Christian community whose recognition of Christ in our midst leads us to walk the Way of love through prayer, simplicity and presence with each other and in our neighbourhood.

By 'new monastic' or 'neo-monastic' we mean that we draw on the ancient wisdom of the Christian monastic traditions - even as we live ordinary lives. By 'intentional community' we mean that we live our lives together in a structured, accountable life committed to God, each other and our neighbourhoods.

We live by a Rule of Life which guides our common life together.

Our common life includes daily prayer, redemptive presence and partnership in our neighbourhoods, practicing sabbath, and seeking to live lives that are more connected with others and with God's creation - while living simpler and less cluttered lives as we seek to follow Jesus.

Some of us live in community houses (such as Belmont House) and others live within proximity to it.  are currently doing daily prayer at Belmont House and Sunday worship (the AbbeyChurch) at Balmoral and Quadra (former First Met building).  

We live our Rule, in community, in the neighbourhood as our primary spiritual community, though some of us have other parishes or congregations we also connect with.   We also have many 'friends' who chose to be part of the community without naming aformal connection.

We pray most weekdays, share meals regularly, deepen our spiritual practices through discernement and formation.  Following the maxim of St. Benedict to support the community with the labour of our hands, we brew beer and make elixirs and run a Sunday worship called the AbbeyChurch, which is open to all.  

We are currently exploring the development of a cooperative residental monastic hub to deeper our monastic witness.

Our name (pronounced ah-may-us) comes from an early Christian story, as told in the Gospel of Luke chapter 24:13-35. We chose this name because of the themes of shared meals, walking with Jesus, welcoming the stranger and experiencing the resurrected Christ in our midst with 'burning hearts'.

The Emmaus Community is a shared ministry of The Anglican Church of Canada - Diocese of BC  and The United Church of Canada - Pacific Mountain Region.

We welcome Christians of all stripes into discernment around membership including LGBTQ2IA+ Christians.

If you're interested in visiting or joining the community, please drop us a line at [email protected]