We’re coming to Marda Loop!

In September 2014, on our very first Sunday as Commons Church, we wrote these words in the season one journal: Our vision is the revitalization of the neighbourhood church for the urban context in Calgary. We're starting here in Kensington, but we envision a network of parish communities serving the urban core of Calgary.

Ten years later, over the summer of 2024, the members of Marda Loop Church voted unanimously to partner with Commons in their next great adventure. With our Kensington Parish once again bursting at the seams, we are excited to begin working toward the launch of our Marda Loop parish.

Over the past 12 months, we have done extensive work to understand exactly what our options are in our new facility, and this fall, we are ready to begin renovations targeting a parish launch for late 2026. If you live closer to Marda Loop, we would love you to consider joining our launch team.

In October 2025 we hosted a congregational meeting to review our plans for the new parish. You can watch the recording of that meeting here and review the documents here.

For more information, sign up below or talk to our Marda Loop Parish Lead, Bobbi Salkeld.

Core Team Sign Up

  • The church is at 1638 30 Ave SW. That's just off 14th St SW, across from South Calgary Park, where you'll find community gardens, a pump track, beach volleyball courts, the South Calgary Fire Station, the Giuffre Family Library, and the South Calgary Outdoor Pool. A block west of the church is cSPACE, where there's a great Farmers & Makers Market every Saturday.

  • Over the past year, we completed a full structural analysis, consulted with architects on design improvements, and reinforced damaged beams by sistering them. In summer 2025, the entire building underwent hazardous materials abatement. The flat roof was repaired and re-graded to prevent water from pooling. This fall, we'll begin drywall installation and electrical work. After that, the plan is to paint both the exterior and interior, refresh the landscaping, change the exterior doors, and update the finishes. The final stage will focus on technology — including network, sound, lighting, and video systems.

  • In the fall and winter 2025/26, we built a solid core team through Core Team Dinners. Bobbi takes a three-month sabbatical Feb-April (returning May 1). When she’s back, the core team will focus on the parish in the neighbourhood. The spring will include a Marda Loop pilgrimage, Farmer's Market meet-ups at cSPACE, and helping everyone on the core team find their fit. On August 9, we’ll participate in Marda Gras, Calgary’s oldest street festival. We'll run a series of launch services before launch with the hope that the building and the team are ready for September.

  • Yes, of course! Whatever your history is with Kensington or Marda Loop, we all know that something that didn’t exist yet – Commons in this new configuration – will very soon take form. This puts all of us on the same ground-floor to shape a Commons parish in Marda Loop. You can come from whatever quadrant you come from. If you feel pulled toward Commons in Marda Loop, then it’s for you. You can take steps toward your discernment by filling out the Core Team Sign-Up form.

  • Since day one, the vision for Commons has been a network of connected parishes across the downtown core. That means more neighbourhood expressions of communities that are intellectually honest, spiritually passionate, with Jesus at the centre. The voices that shape the culture and theology of Commons are not easy to replicate. By maintaining a network, our parishes will share resources, and the teaching team will show up in both parishes. Through an updated parish model, Kensington and Marda Loop will be uniquely interdependent. That means we won't duplicate structures and resources so much as share them. We will continue to serve the entire Commons community in the best way we can.