The History of The Women’s Bible Study

The idea of a bible study started in 2005 with a meeting with the pastor Fr. Gary Frankin.  I wanted to deepen my faith and he referred me to a Women’s Bible Study at St. Francis de Sales Parish, in Burnaby.  Fr. Gary hoped a Women’s Bible Study could be started at Immaculate Conception.

Several women from I.C. were already attending this Bible Study, car pooling to Burnaby, Wednesday mornings.  This was a very active Bible Study with a membership of 70 – 80 ladies.

The women at SFdS were extremely helpful in our initial setup, especially Joan Agon.  The whole group came out to visit us on several special occasions.  Our Sacred Heart Statue is a gift from them.

In the fall of 2006 the commuting got very onerous for us and we started to think seriously about starting a Women’s Bible Study at I.C. modelled on the one at SFdS.  Thea Baxter and I met with Fr. Gary early in October to discuss the details.  We held our first session on October 25, 2006.  Felicity Gray joined us soon afterwards, after her retirement.

Our parish priests were always very supportive.  They dropped in to say Grace, before our breakfasts began and were always ready to provide clarification when necessary.

Positive feedback from attendees, at the end of each year, made it evident that The Women’s Bible Study at I.C. was Holy Spirit driven.

Thea, Felicity and I retired as leaders in 2015 and Margaret Barry very graciously assumed the leadership role.  We were very grateful to have served Our Lord and Our Parish in this capacity and, are still enjoying the many friendships we’ve made from within this very special group of faith-filled women.

Sisters in Christ, 

Joan Surinak, Thea Baxter and Felicity Gray