About Our New Church Banner

Our new Church Banner, commissioned by Ann Bodwell, was unveiled at our 125th Anniversary Sunday Service on November 3.  The Banner's creator and artist Thomas Roach (seen in the picture above) has kindly written a description of the inspiration for the banner.  Please fine this description in his own words immediately below.

The parish motto of St. John’s is “Do God’s Love.”

As an artist, it is sometimes a bit of a challenge to interpret text in ways that other people might find meaningful. When I wondered about what the motto means to the community, I understood that it means reaching out to each other; connecting in a loving manner with each other – both within the parish and the broader context of the Northshore. The multitude of these seemingly small connections are what embodying God‘s love means.

 In thinking about interconnectedness and the strength of those networks, I chose the hexagon as a central motif around which to build the design. The hexagon is one of the most stable shapes, and by stacking them together they create a beautiful net of connection.

I was invited to use some of the colours that St. John’s has been using in signage and in parish printed materials – aqua, teal and gold. Thankfully, my silk supplier had a rich variety of these tones. At the centre of this network is a blossom created by seven gold yellow hexagons, and they are surrounded by teals and some greens representative of the Northshore. On some of the blocks, you will see a pattern of foliage that includes western red cedar, Douglas fir, salal and ferns. Sometimes this contrasts with the background, and at other times it is colour-on-colour creating a damask texture. On other panels you see a net of stitch like marks printed on the fabric to suggest interconnectedness. This is reflected in layers, big and small.

I choose to use a slightly darker colour to highlight some of the joins suggesting the leading on stained glass windows. This both reflects the quality of light in St. John’s liturgical space, and the way that it honours the historic stained glass.

I am very interested in what an observer can discern at different distances from the artwork, particularly in my work for churches. There are parts of the design that you see from the back of the church and more elements of the design, and more details begin to emerge as you get closer. One of the elements that you probably won’t see from the back of the church are a pair of hands reaching out from the cross. I leave it up to the viewer to decide if these are divine or human. In addition to these hands, you will also see many small reflective gold hexagons that I use to create a kind of scattering of Divine sparks of love.

I hope that this work celebrates the interconnectedness of God’s love already in this community, how it reaches out to the broader community, and also as a beautiful reminder to continue doing the work that you individually and collectively do.

Given to the Glory of God and in loving memory of Bruce Bodwell by his wife Ann Bodwell on the
125^th anniversary of St. John's, North Vancouver, November 11, 2024. Dedicated November 3, 2024.

Designed and handmade by Vancouver textile artist Thomas Roach. www.thomasroach.ca