Welcome

St. Martin of Tours Anglican/Lutheran Church is situated on Gabriola Island, British Columbia.  We warmly invite you to join our worship services on Sundays at 9:00am.
 We worship in Gabriola United Church.

2600 South Road,
Gabriola, BC    

For further information, please contact us.

Who We Are

Our Island Community

Gabriola Island is located in the Strait of Georgia between the city of Vancouver and Vancouver Island, just a twenty-minute ferry ride from Nanaimo or a fifteen-minute float plane ride from Vancouver International Airport.  Gabriola's permanent winter population of about 5000 people swells to 10,000 in summer, plus visitors.

A mostly wooded island 14 km. long and 5 km wide, with a mild climate, beautiful beaches, and all the services one could need, it's no wonder it's one of the most sought-after locations in the BC Gulf Islands to live, work, play or retire.

For further information, please see gabriolaisland.org.

Vision

We are people of God, followers of Jesus, open to the Spirit.

Mission

1. Place: That St. Martin of Tours has a permanent and ecumenical sacred space.
2. Worship: That St. Martin of Tours shares the gospel in the light of continuing revelations of the spirit and translates it into action.
3. Outreach: That St Martin of Tours makes a commitment to social, environmental and justice challenges and their causes, locally, nationally & internationally, and develops a plan to address them in right relationship as a community.
   
   

Our Congregation

The congregation of St. Martin of Tours is a dynamic spirit-filled group of worshipers.  Some of our members are descendents of the early pioneers on Gabriola Island and some of our congregation have more recently moved to Gabriola.  During the summer months are numbers swell as we are joined by vacationing Anglicans and Lutherans.

A video of our congregation, singing "Amazing Grace" and enjoying various activities, can be viewed below:

What We Do

Worship

Rev Marvin Svingen is currently St Martin of Tours Priest-in-Charge. Rev. Dr. Linda St. Clair is Honourary Assistant

The laity play a very important role in the worship life of this community. The licensed lay assistants in addition to offering the chalice at communion also read the gospel and the psalm.

Since we meet in a rented building, our Altar Guild has the challenge of setting up the worship space every Sunday.  We have teams that set up the room and prepare space for hospitality after the service, readers, greeters and many others who help make our worship time together meaningful.

We are blessed with a gifted musician who is versatile and talented so the range of music we can experience is very broad.

We have a Worship committee who meets regularly to support this important part of our life together.

At 10:00 am, we offer a Lutheran Worship Service each month, an Iona Worship Service and the remaining two Sundays we hold services using the Book of Alternative Services. Once a month we have been offering an 8:00 am service using the Book of Common Prayer.

Fellowship

St. Martin of Tours is a welcoming, inclusive and comfortable church.  Fellowship addresses the need for respect, warmth, community, a sense of peace and caring.  Members reach out to each other in fellowship, keep in touch during times of trouble or celebration and enjoy social times (coffee after church) and meals together (Sunday lunch at a local restaurant) and share "great pot lucks".

Newcomers and visitors find a very welcoming congregation extending from greeters at the door, to the invitation to the Open Table. Visitors are welcomed and introduced at announcement time by the wardens and special efforts are made to include them in the exchange of the Peace and following the service through one-on-one conversations.  New members are drawn into the congregation with invitations to participate in parish activities and upcoming events.

We combine fun and fundraising in events including games nights, winter dinners and summer lunches/ picnics, garage sales, bake and craft sales, raffles, cookbook sales, Shakespeare readings, pancake supper, and so on.  Almost all members of the congregation take part in at least several of these events, and we encourage and get participation from the larger Gabriola community as well.

The parish has a strong ecumenical focus, participating regularly in activities such as A World Day of Prayer and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Many parishioners attend meetings of the Gabriola Ecumenical Society, which seeks to promote mutual understanding and relationships among differing denominations and faith traditions.

Fellowship is an important component of St Martin's and we value it very highly.