Dear Friend of the Cathedral

Lots of good news and anticipation of several interesting or exciting events to report on this week. To make things easy to record on your calendars I will list events chronologically.

But first, some good news from the recent Diocesan Theological College Convocation. The three ordinands from the cathedral were the well-deserved recipients of two academic prizes each:

Tania Lesack – The Rev’d Canon Lettie James prize for feminism theology and the Bishop Russell Brown Award.

Joel Amis – The Alys L G Slater Memorial Bequest and the Lionel Temple-Hill Prize.

Tyson Røsberg –  Lachlan Gibb award for preaching and the College Prize in Biblical Studies – here’s his preacher’s cup! Bishop Mary, Jen Bourque, Rhonda Waters, and Donald Boisvert are among the earlier recipients.

In addition, Michael Patry was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity for his long service to our parish, to the Diocese, and to Diocesan College.

Now the events:

1. May 13 Oasis Musicale at 4: 30pm: One Equall Musick presents In Vita Mortali featuring works by Monteverdi, Schütz, and Sweelinck. For details visit http://www.oasismusicale.ca/
2. May 14 Fair Trade Boutique (note one week earlier than usual) Some baked goods using Fair Trade products will be on sale along with the usual offerings.
3. May 16 Forum, the sounding-board of the cathedral community meets at 6:30 in St Anselm’s Chapel, the 2^nd floor of Fulford Hall. Refreshments at 6. The meeting is open to everyone so do come to hear about Cathedral life and give your input. An agenda and other documents , including the Social Justice Action suggestions for Summer and Fall., were sent to the parish email list. Elected members unable to attend, please send your regrets to the Cathedral Office.
4. May 20 Inter-faith Conference in Westmount High School concerning the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people.
5. May 28 Pain, partage et prière – La prochaine rencontre sera dimanche le 28 mai. Jean-Jacques sera en France pour un de ses contrats mais Jean-Daniel a accepté d’animer le groupe, comme nous le faisons d’habitude!
6. May 30, the Capital Campaign Launch and unveiling of Parks Canada Plaque. There will be speeches, music and lunch. All sorts of interesting people will be present, including our previous Dean Paul Kennington, who did so much to get the campaign started. Volunteers are needed to help on Tuesday, May 30^th.  If you have a few hours, from around 9:30 to 1:30, speak to Sheena Gourlay or Les Stutzman.
7. June 4 Ordination. We are delighted that Jean-Daniel Williams will be ordained as priest in this service. Donald read the following notice from the bishop in church last Sunday: “God willing, on Sunday, June 4^th, The Feast of Pentecost, at 4 pm at Christ Church Cathedral, I intend to ordain Jane Bell, B.A., R.N., Dip.Min., L.Th., to the diaconate, and The Rev. Stanley Brooks, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Dip.Min., L.Th., The Rev. Jonathan Daniel (Jean-Daniel) Cathell-Williams, M.Div., ALB, AA., to the presbyterate.”  In the same service Steven Mackison will be installed as a canon of the cathedral. The service will be followed by a reception. I’m sure many of us will want to be at the ordination to support  Jean-Daniel, Jane, Stanley, and Steven
8. The book group meets at 7:30 that evening to discuss A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. All are welcome. For more information please see Jane or Ann.
9. June 11. The annual picnic in the church grounds.
10. June 11. 6 pm. The second
11. June 18 a very special event, an intercommunity French Eucharist followed by a picnic – an opportunity for francophones and francophiles to establish ties and build friendships.

Vous êtes francophones ou francophiles, Chrétiens de tradition Anglicane, répartis dans diverses congrégations, nous vous invitons à participer à une Célébration de la Parole et de l’Eucharistie; à faire connaissance tout en fraternisant et partageant un repas.  

12. An exciting date to keep in mind for 2018. Paul Kennington has teamed up with the Chicago Cathedral to offer a Pilgrimage in England August 6 – 17, 2018. There’s a  price reduction for expressing early interest.

Well, that’s enough excitement about future projects for one week. Let us not forget to pray with thankful hearts for our busy, fulfilled lives and keep in our prayers all who need our support because they are sick or troubled or dealing with problems. As the media keep reminding us, it is Mother’s Day this weekend, but this is not a day which everyone enjoys. You might like to read this thoughtful article about the appropriateness of celebrating Mother’s day in church http://www.godweb.org/mothersday2.htm

Ann Elbourne

If you would like to receive this Newsletter weekly with the attachments (Forum documents, pilgrimage flyer, etc.) simply send your name and email address to the church office….    cathoff [at] bellnet.ca