Editor’s note: Excerpts from the article written by Kiply Lukan Yaworski for Catholic Saskatoon News; compiled and edited for length with permission by Rev. Canon Marie-Louise Ternier
SASKATOON — Fond memories of early-morning worship services at different Saskatoon churches during the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were shared last fall at the 40th anniversary celebration for the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE), founded in Saskatoon in 1984.
Prairie Centre for Ecumenism board chair Mary Nordick pointed to the early-morning gatherings on cold and dark prairie mornings in January as times filled with the warmth of fellowship and the joy of re-connecting with friends from other Christian traditions.
Rev. Dr. Sandra Beardsall, a United Church minister and professor emeritus of Church History and Ecumenics who has been involved in the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE) in various ways over the past 25 years, also shared memories of those early morning gatherings.
“I think those will stay with me all my life,” she said. “I would get up and say, ‘What am I doing? It is minus 30!’ And then there would be this beautiful prayer service, and breakfast, and friends … there is something so precious about that praying together early, early in the morning.”
Various speakers at the PCE anniversary recalled the contributions and effect of the centre’s founder, Fr. Bernard de Margerie, who died in March 2024. Former PCE director Nicholas Jesson of Regina noted the uniqueness of the centre in its focus on local grassroots ecumenism and on ecumenical education.
“There are so many ways that the ecumenical formation that happens here has impacted the church across the country,” he stressed.
Recalling his own time as director, from 1994 to 1999, Jesson listed a range of initiatives, including the ecumenical dialogue undertaken by a local committee that created bulletin inserts that were shared in the thousands. He also described the personal effect of de Margerie’s support for inter-church families, made up of couples from different Christian traditions living out their marriage ecumenically, as well as the effect of the centre’s ecumenical education and formation initiatives, such as a Summer Ecumenical Institute that ran for many years.
Another former director, Rev. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, recalled the effect of the 2008 “Remembering the Children” national tour, which was held in Saskatoon largely because of the relationships between the Christian churches, thanks to the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. That historic 2008 event laid the groundwork for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that followed a few years later.
“The reason we could do that and do it well, was because the network was already there. The people already knew each other and could move into high gear without a lot of formalities,” Bigland-Pritchard said noting it was “something which I think was important to the history of Canada.”
The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism has been a visible sign of the work for Christian unity over the past 40 years, said Bishop Emeritus Allan Grundahl of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. “It is a visible sign that many people of different backgrounds and many kinds of Christian faith can work together and appreciate each other, and it does help to have an almighty God that can help us all be together!”
Fr. Kevin McGee, vicar-general for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, brought greetings from Bishop Mark Hagemoen, sharing his own personal witness of ecumenical shared outreach, with St. Mary’s Catholic Parish currently partnering with the Salvation Army to open its hall as an overnight warm-up shelter for those in need. “For me our hearts do not beat more closely than when they are beating together with the heart of Jesus, and Jesus has a love for the poor,” said McGee.
Reflecting on the future of the PCE, chair Mary Nordick noted, “We have barely begun. We’ve laid the groundwork for working together, now we come to the more difficult questions. The time to come together — knowing each other, respecting each other — continues, always with the hope that we are following the Lord’s request that ‘All would be one,’” she said. “Hopefully the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism will be around for another 40 years.”
Bigland-Pritchard added, “Working out the vocation of ecumenism looks different now that it did 40 years ago. But the call to know each other across all kinds of divides, and to work together to seek the Kingdom of God through His son Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, remains. “
This year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity again included the De Margerie Series for Christian Reconciliation and Unity. The theme of the 2025 De Margerie Series was “Here Comes Nicea,” with guest speaker Rev. Dr. Sandra Beardsall considering ecumenism in light of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Two live-streamed lectures and two in-person workshops were hosted in both Regina and Saskatoon.
The Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon is represented on the PCE Board by Rev. Canon Marie-Louise Ternier and lay rep Mary-Jean Dewald.
