More congratulations – Forum June 20 – update from Parish Search Committee –prayers asked – summer slow-down: office hours, various activities on hold – various activities happening – Kaleidoscope visit – Inter-community Eucharist – bananas – Visit from choir of Trinity College London – young adult group – la cathédrale, le soir – Middlemarch – planning for JDC, an invitation – summer newsletters
Dear Friend of the Cathedral
Kudos to some more members of the cathedral community for their recent academic successes. Ashley Crouch has been awarded her Masters in Theology and Tania Lesack her Bachelor of Theology. Congratulations to both of them. Tania received an award for being the best female student, well deserved after the many late nights she spent writing essays at the end of a full day’s work at the cathedral.
It was a joy to be part of the congregation at Jean-Daniel’s first celebration of the 10 am Eucharist and to welcome Holly Ann Garnett, a recent PhD graduate of McGill, to the pulpit on Sunday. Her refreshing homily explored the mystery of the Trinity through the lens of friendship.
The next meeting of Forum is on Tuesday June 20 at 6:30 with light refreshments at 6 pm to give us the energy to participate in the meeting. Elected members are, of course, urged to attend, but the meeting is open to all parishioners, so do come along to find out what has been happening, learn about future plans and take the opportunity to share your ideas. The agenda includes reports from various committees and organisations, including a discussion about refugee sponsorship and some feedback from the Parish Search Committee. Meanwhile, Donna Riley sends this report on behalf of the committee:
Meanwhile, Donna Riley sends this report on behalf of the committee:
While there has not been much news from the Parish Search Committee over the past few weeks, its nine members have been working diligently. The deadline for submitting applications to the Bishop’s office was May 15th. Those applications were vetted by the Bishop and forwarded to the Committee for careful consideration, and initial interviews have begun. These will be followed by second interviews, references, visits if necessary, etc., and the usual negotiations – all time-consuming activities, but vital. The Committee is very encouraged by the quality of the candidates. We will keep you posted, and we invite and appreciate your continued prayers.
Please also pray that the Holy Spirit is guiding the person God has chosen for us. Prions pour le discernement, que le comité de recruitment discerne la volonté du Saint Esprit dans la procédure de selection du prochain doyen de la cathédrale. Your prayers are also asked for the Diocesan Synod taking place this weekend and for our synod reps, Sam Keuchguerian and Flo Tracy. You can attend the opening Eucharist in the cathedral at 8:30 am and hear the Bishop’s charge. A short piece on “How To Pray For Others” can be found here. The world needs prayer too… Sojourners offers this meditation, “Prayer for a Heavy World.” Let us also give thanks for students happily finishing their school year and looking forward to the summer and ask God’s blessing on people planning holidays and reducing their workloads.
The cathedral office will be closed next Friday, June 23rd, Friday, June 30th and Monday, September 4th. There will be no morning prayer on the 23rd and 30th as the church will not open until 10.
Please note that the diocesan summer office hours are from 9 am to 3:30 pm, July 3 to September 5. This means that the door to Cathedral Place on Union will be locked after 3:30, even though the Cathedral staff will usually still be working, so if you have a meeting, please make arrangements for access to the building with the person you are meeting, or call the Cathedral Office before 3:30.
Life in general is much quieter around the cathedral during the summer. There won’t be a Forum meeting or end-of-the-month lunch in July and August, nor will there be an Oasis concert at the cathedral on June 24 (Jean-Baptiste) or on July 1 (Canada Day). However, there will be Oasis concerts at St George’s at 3 pm on Sundays June 25 and July 2 and there is a concert in the cathedral at 4:30 this Saturday (June 17), when Yunyi Zhang will give a piano recital, playing works by Bach, Kabalevsky, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Shchedrin and Poulenc.
The slowdown doesn’t mean that nothing is happening!
This Sunday Kaleidoscope, a French group which visits a variety of places of worship, will be with us at the cathedral. At 11:45 Jean-Jacques will be giving them a talk in French about Anglicanism, which you are welcome to attend. Some of the group will attend one of the choral Eucharists. There will be a number of visitors from other churches joining the French mass and partaking of a picnic afterwards. Details were in last week’s newsletter.
Also this Sunday look out for delicious fair trade bananas at the monthly Fair Trade Kiosque. We will miss seeing Jonathan in his banana costume!
The All Saints Choir from Worcester, Massachusetts (L) will sing Evensong at 5:15 on Thursday, June 29. The following week a choir from King’s College, London, England (R) will be singing Evensong each day at 5:15 p.m. from Monday July 3 to Thursday July 6, as part of the R.C.C.O. Convention in Montreal. These Evensongs should be beautiful. Do try to come.
Hungry Minds, our Cathedral young adult group, gathers for Bible study, meals, and social and service events sporadically throughout the summer. To learn more, talk to Rev. Jean-Daniel ().
La Cathédrale, le soir, the experimental bilingual contemporary evening Eucharist, will hold its third monthly service on July 9. Fellowship and snacks at 5:45 pm, worship at 6 pm.
The cathedral reading group has an excellent suggestion for your summer reading – “Middlemarch, a Study of Provincial Life”, by George Elliott published in 1871. Judging by the result of my google search it truly seems that “all human life is there” – Significant themes apparently include “the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education.” (Wikipedia) Robert McCrum, writing in the Guardian named Middlemarch # 21 on his list of the definitive 100 novels written in English and declared “This cathedral of words stands today as perhaps the greatest of the great Victorian works of Fiction.” The reading group will meet in September to decide if we agree. Please join us. If you’re interested, but don’t want to buy the book I have a few copies from the library available for people to borrow.
Next Wednesday there will be a get-together over supper for a group of people interested in planning for the Journées de la culture Sept 29 to October 1. If you would like to be part of that group and you haven’t received an invitation to the supper, please speak to Sam, Amanda or me.
There will be fewer letters during the summer, either when I’m away or because there isn’t much news. If there is any important news (like the appointment of a new Dean or the gift of a million dollars!) a special letter will be sent out. I’m always anxious to include news items about cathedral members, so do keep me informed. A special event next week is Duncan Shaddick’s 90th birthday. He is currently living in Place Kensington in Westmount if you want to drop off a card.
I hope you all enjoy well-deserved rest and relaxation and a chance to re-charge your batteries.
Ann Elbourne