Welcome to Iona Community!
We're so glad you've found us! We’re a small, warm, family-friendly gathering of Anglican Christians in the Greater Vancouver area. We are serious about following Christ in all areas of our lives and in genuine community with each other.
Life is hard, but it’s harder when we’re alone. We’re wired for community, but community doesn’t exist without its challenges. Life together means we are doing life—all of life—together! It means we’re committed to one another, in the good times and the bad.
For us, worship is not just a service or an "event" on Sundays—it's a lifestyle. A phrase we use a lot around here is “life together in the goodness of God.”
But our community isn’t insular: as Christians on a mission, we are committed to the city. We see the area around our meeting space and our homes as our "parish" and actively seek the good of the city.
VALUES
COMMUNITY
We demonstrate Christ’s love first and foremost in our interactions with one another—both in the fun of fellowship and the seriousness of praying for each other and speaking truth and hope into one another’s lives.
If you have pastoral needs (counseling, prayer, etc), or need help with spiritual direction, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
HOSPITALITY
We reach out to our neighbors and friends through hospitality—conversations around the table are a beautiful way of getting to know people. In practicing hospitality, we hope to be the hands and feet of Christ to those around us.
We meet frequently over soup and bread to encourage each other and pray together. Please check our calendar for updates on this week’s events.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
God gives us each gifts and abilities to be used for the good of the community. Part of the role of community is to identify and encourage one another in those gifts, thereby building up the body—and showing the world a clearer picture of Jesus.
Another way we grow spiritually is through intentional study of our faith. Catechism classes cover the essentials of Christianity, including studies on Christian belief, practicing our faith, and Anglicanism. In this format, Christians can inquire about their faith, prepare for baptism or confirmation, or just deepen their understanding of what following Jesus means.
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
During our weekly worship time, we provide childcare for children ages 0–6. They spend the time learning about Jesus in an interactive, age-appropriate way. We take seriously Jesus’ emphasis on caring for our children and helping them know, understand, and live the faith passed on to them (Mark 10:13–16).
Our role as a community is to support parents as they nurture their children in spiritual things and the Christian way of life (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). We seek through this ministry not to supplant parents’ roles, but to bolster and encourage them.
We take our children’s safety seriously. Our caregivers must pass a thorough background check and receive child misconduct training, administered by our diocese. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know promptly.
OUR STORY
The original Iona is both a Scottish island and the name of a monastery established by an Irish priest, St. Columba, in 563 AD. This monastery, a Celtic Christian community, was very influential in bringing the faith back to England after invaders had nearly wiped it out.
Living in this community, people learned about Christ and used their lives in creative ways to bring others to faith in Christ. Though the community fell into disrepair centuries later, Rev. George MacLeod re-established it as a renewal center in 1938. It exists today as an ecumenical Christian community.
Fast-forward to today! Our Iona Community started as an Anglican Church plant in Vancouver, Washington during the October of 2013. The spirit of what Columba established in the original Iona Community seemed like a fitting aspiration for our church plant in the Pacific Northwest.
Since then, we have taken on this ancient example of creatively engaging the world around us with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Instead of a monastery, we are a missional community. We want Iona to be a safe place of hope and healing, where people can learn about the reality of the hope we've experienced in the risen Christ.
What’s an Anglican?
The word "Anglican" refers to the Christian church that was brought to the land of the Angles (England) in the 2nd century by Roman Christians. For that reason, it is evangelical and missionary by nature. The Anglican church has a rich and ancient history that is part Patristic (early church), part Celtic, part Roman, and part Orthodox.
During the Reformation in the 15th century, the western church underwent some very necessary reforms (both Protestant and Catholic). Although the English Church moved away from Roman control, it remained catholic, meaning it stayed faithful to the beliefs held universally by all Christians. Lastly, as the Anglican church traces its lineage back to the early Apostles, it also believes in the Holy Spirit. This means we are also apostolic and charismatic.
Some would call the Anglican Church the Reformed Catholic church, while some would call it a Liturgical Protestant church. No matter the title, we are a faithful orthodox Christian Church, characterized by ancient and sacramental worship, evangelical and missionary zeal, and a catholic and charismatic nature.
Today, "Anglican" refers more to a global church than being English—it's the third largest branch of Christianity. This is especially true because the majority of Anglicans live outside England. In Nigeria, there are more Anglicans than in all of England, the US, and Canada combined!
This is an impossibly short explanation, and very general, but its purpose is to give you a quick overview. If you would like to dig deeper, you can reach out to Fr. Mike or check out the following websites: the Diocese of Cascadia (our regional grouping of churches led by our bishop, who is a pastor to pastors), the Anglican Church in North America (the larger Province comprising all of the dioceses in this region), or the Global Anglican Future Conference’s website (to learn about the worldwide Anglican movement).