Leaders to join Presiding Bishop for 'Holding on to Hope: A National Service for Healing and Wholeness'
On the eve of a historic election and in the midst of pandemic and racial reckoning, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will call Americans together for a live-streamed prayer service from Washington National Cathedral. The Holding on to Hope service will be held on All Saints Sunday, November 1, at 4:00-5:30 pm EST, and viewers can join in a variety of ways.
Author Archive: Geoffrey Hall
Thanksgiving 2020 Pastoral
Thanksgiving 2020
Dear Friends in Christ,
Giving thanks is at the centre of living the Christian life. It may seem all too obvious, but when we gather, a normal worship event is Eucharist. “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.”
In these days of the continuing worldwide pandemic, thanksgiving can be a challenge. Our lives have been changed. Our routines are disrupted. There’s an extra layer of attention necessary with almost everything we do. And while all of that weighs on some, has enormous economic impact on others and is deemed unnecessary by far too many, the Christian response to COVID-19 needs to be thanks-giving.
We don’t welcome illness nor can we ignore the reasonable care now necessary whenever we come in closer contact with one another. But we do need to give thanks: give thanks that we are able to gather (observing precautions within our circles); give thanks that while much of the world is being devastated by COVID-19, we are relatively safe where we live; give thanks that in the midst of our challenges, God is good and will provide what we need.
Thanksgiving for Christians is not just about pumpkins, apples and pretty autumn leaves even though these gifts too deserve our thanks. For the Church our Lord died to save, every day is thanksgiving. In every annoyance, there is a blessing. With every challenge comes an opportunity to grow. Even in the midst of chaos, there is reminder that God’s order of creation is a visible sign that continues to guide us toward living for him.
As we gather for worship on the second Sunday of October, the weekend the civic calendar calls “thanksgiving,” let us remember that historic Christian faith invented the concept. Let us give thanks for what we do have even in the face of what we don’t. Let us respond faithfully with genuine thanks for God’s continuing provision.
It is customary at the time of Christian festivals to make offerings of thanks. Please look in your boxed set of envelopes for the one marked “Thanksgiving.” If online giving is more convenient, visit the “Give Now” page of the Cathedral website to make your gift and you will receive immediately a receipt for income tax purposes.
May the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and yours.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Hall
Dean of Fredericton
GMH
Cathedral sexton needed – October 2020
Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton NB is seeking a Sexton. Reporting to the Dean of Fredericton and working with the Committee on Properties, the successful candidate will provide custodial (janitorial), cleaning, maintenance and oversight of both the Cathedral Church and the Cathedral Memorial Hall.
The work involves maintaining assigned premises in a clean and orderly condition with the goal of institutional health and safety. Minor repairs as required. Duties include sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, scrubbing, waxing and polishing floors and furniture as well as cleaning washrooms, windows, lights, walls and maintaining the cleanliness of the kitchen. Work also involves snow and ice removal from entrances, mowing lawns, routine preventative maintenance, maintaining fire safety equipment and generally assuring access and security of both facilities.
The is a full-time position, 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday with flexibility when necessary due to special events or weather requiring the sexton's services.
Qualifications include completion of Grade 12 and a minimum of three years’ experience in custodial and maintenance work; or equivalent combination of training and experience. Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work in a team environment are important. Compliance with Safe Church policies requires the necessary version of a current police record check.
Application deadline is 19 October 2020. Only short-listed candidates will be interviewed. A full position description is available upon request. Please provide a resume and covering letter addressed to the Search Committee.
To inquire or to apply:
search at cccath.ca [replace “at” with “@”]
or
Christ Church Cathedral
168 Church Street
Fredericton NB E3B 4C9
(506) 450-8500
christchurchcathedral.com
Smart (er?) Stewardship
Diocesan Stewardship Officer Mike Briggs writes in the October NB Anglican
‘Work smarter not harder.’
How many of us have heard the above phrase in our working lives? It is an exhortation to use your time wisely so you can produce more with less effort and is typically well understood by everyone. Have you thought about stewardship in the same way? We all know of the tax benefits that come from donating to a registered charity, and I have written on this on a number of occasions.
Let’s look at food banks for example. How many of us add a few extra cans of soup, boxes of Kraft Dinner, or pasta to our grocery carts and donate it in the bin after we check out at the cash register?
We all know of the tax benefits that come from donating to a registered charity
Volunteering at a local food bank two afternoons most weeks, I can certainly see the need, especially now with all the restrictions and unemployment due to COVID-19, although New Brunswick is faring better than most provinces.
Instead of buying those extra items, welcome though they are, have you considered donating directly to the local food bank or to Food Depot Alimentaire, the organization that distributes to the food banks?
I’ve illustrated the advantages of doing this in a table. The food banks do not have enough food donations to fulfill their needs so they go out and purchase.
Due to their bulk purchases, the major chains give them a price break — more product for the same dollar amount. I had not thought about this until our parish had the executive of a local food bank give us a talk. If you think about what you spend, then gross it up to allow for the tax relief, then donate that amount, you have spent the same after-tax dollars. However, the food bank is able to use those grossed-up dollars and purchase much more. The end result is that for the same after-tax donation to the food bank, they receive far more product than if you had donated the product itself.
As you can see, the first column is an illustration of giving product directly. The second shows donating the same amount of cash, lowering your after-tax cost but giving the food bank extra.
The last column shows the result of giving so your net aftertax cost remains the same as donating product but the food bank receives three times the product that you would donate directly.
In New Brunswick the tax relief is a little below 50 percent, but I have used that percentage for ease of illustration. This is just one example of smart stewardship where you leverage the tax advantages so your charitable donation goes much further.
Think about all you do and whether there is a way to give smarter and benefit your chosen charities.
Kurt Schmidt – My Journey Here
Kurt Schmidt - My Journey Here
Had it not been for a conversation with a nun from Chicago, Kurt Schmidt might never had ended up in Fredericton. Between then and now, there were stops in Cape Breton, Tanzania, Tacoma, Halifax and Windsor, Nova Scotia.
Kurt, 45, was raised a Roman Catholic in Littleton, just outside Denver, Colorado, and attended a Jesuit high school.
“I grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition,” he said. “It’s pretty deep in my family. My mom is the only one in her family not a monk or a nun at one time. We’re Irish Catholic and German Catholic.”
After high school he studied mathematics and African studies at Colorado College, and connected with a small monastic community, called Nada, which had a relationship with his college. In his final year, Kurt did an independent study that included a stay at the monastery.
“While there I followed the rules of the monastery,” he said. “I was living as a monk while doing the study.”
There, over chores, he met the nun whose conversation would change his life.
“She asked me what I was doing after university, and said ‘why don’t you check out this remarkable community in Cape Breton?’”
She’d visited and had written a story about L’Arche Cape Breton. He read the story, and promptly wrote a letter asking if they had any room for him.
The L’Arche website says it is a worldwide organization that creates inclusive communities where the members, with and without intellectual disabilities, share life together. Each member receives support to grow, achieve goals, and contribute their gifts and abilities to create a more colourful, welcoming, creative, compassionate, and joyful community. Members live life together while working, learning and sharing their gifts. It has strong Catholic roots and United church influences.
From Colorado to Cape Breton
Kurt’s letter to L’Arche was obviously well-received.
“Four weeks later I was on a plane to this mysterious place called Cape Breton,” said Kurt. “It was my first experience of intentional community living. L’Arche Cape Breton is the only rural L’Arche community. It has a very special character. It was a really transforming experience for me.”
Transforming indeed, because while there, he met Catherine, his future wife and an Anglican, who was from Guelph, Ontario.
Kurt spent one year at L’Arche as an assistant, in exchange for room and board and a small stipend, “but it’s not really a practical career move,” he said.
From Cape Breton, he moved to Tanzania to teach for a year with Jesuit Volunteers International, another communal living experience in “the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and another non-paying job.”
Meanwhile, since this was 1999, he and Catherine kept in contact through letters, though he knows many were lost in the mail.
Married life
“On my return to North America, my first stop was Cape Breton,” he said. “Catherine and I got engaged.”
They spent their engagement year in another L’Arche community, this time in Tacoma, Washington. It was here, through L’Arche’s help, that he was able to pay off his student loan.
The couple was married in 2001 in Ancaster, Ontario at Canterbury Hills, an Anglican camp. It was an Anglican-Catholic service to honour the religious backgrounds of the bride and groom. Kurt’s uncle, a priest, was one of the celebrants.
The date was Sept. 9, and those guests who hadn’t left Ontario by 10 September, including his parents, were stuck there for a week as North American air travel was halted due to the 9-11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Kurt and Catherine chose Halifax to begin married life, and as they arrived Sept. 11, learned of the attacks.
That first year of marriage was a lean one, said Kurt, with Catherine finding work in home health care. Kurt, ineligible to work in Canada, managed to do some private tutoring.
A year later, his employment visa came through just in time for him to find work as a math teacher at King’s-Edgehill, a prestigious, very proper old Anglican boarding school in Windsor, N.S. He’d sent his resume on a whim. The day before it arrived, the math teacher had backed out of his contract.
With just eight days before the term began, they made a very quick move to Windsor, ultimately spending four happy years there. For three of those years, Catherine was a student at Dalhousie University, taking occupational therapy certification.
From Windsor to Fredericton
At graduation, Catherine was offered a job in Fredericton, and like she had done for Kurt, he resigned at the end of the term and followed her to the city that is now their home.
I’ve felt like our experience here at the Cathedral has been one of very deep empowerment
Once in Fredericton, Kurt found contract work with NBCC and at the Mi’Kmaq Wolastoqui Centre at the University of New Brunswick.
Their daughter, Rachel, was born in 2007, and after Catherine returned to work, Kurt became a stay-at-home dad, teaching a few courses at UNB as well.
“By the time Rachel was school age, Catherine and I had carved out part-time employment — me teaching and she doing occupational therapy — and both of us home schooling Rachel. It was awesome.”
From 2009-12, Kurt studied part-time for a Masters in Education and taught at UNB, while also homeschooling and taking care of Rachel.
Christ Church Cathedral
Shortly after arriving in Fredericton, their neighbour, Verne Sinclair, told them about the 11:45 service at Christ Church Cathedral.
“At the very first service, we happened to sit behind Nathan and Isabel Cutler,” said Kurt. “After the service, Isabel swung around and made us feel welcome. She really extended a warm welcome. We came and never left!”
Two other women in the congregation — Kirsten McKnight and Cindy Pope — were pregnant, and they and Catherine all gave birth to baby girls within six weeks of each other in early 2007.
“I’ve felt like our experience here at the Cathedral has been one of very deep empowerment,” he said. “We’ve had two deans and found both of them very empowering and the entire congregation has been nothing but empowering.”
In 2017, Kurt was hired as the half-time director of Christian formation at the Cathedral.
“It was the right time for me, our family and the Cathedral,” he said. “I’m working on my own formation as well as others’.”
It’s a cross-generational position with “a spectrum of freedom. It’s been really positive.”
So what’s it been like to make the move from Catholicism to Anglicanism?
“Frankly, I still consider myself a practicing Catholic,” he said. “I don’t experience any conflict. My faith is richer by having two approaches to it. I appreciate being able to explore more Anglican traditions.”
He was preparing for reception (into the Anglican Church) on Easter Sunday, but has had to wait until COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Rachel is 13, and attending middle school with her friends. Catherine is an occupational therapist for the New Brunswick Extra-Mural Program. Kurt became a permanent resident of Canada while at Kings Edgehill, and has been a Canadian citizen for more than a decade.
“I’ve lived more than half my life in Canada,” he said, adding, though, that he misses family back home, and he misses the Rocky Mountains “a lot.”
Article written by Gisele McKnight and originally published in the NB Anglican.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The New Brunswick Anglican's new series, My Journey Here, features a member of the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton whose roots are far from New Brunswick. If you are, or know of a parishioner who is from away and would like to tell the story of ‘how I got here,’ send the name and contact information to the editor: <gmcknight at diofton.ca> or (506) 459-1801, ext. 1009.
Season of Creation 2020 – Jubilee for the Earth
Each year, the ecumenical steering committee that provides this Season of Creation Celebration Guide suggests a theme. The 2020 theme is Jubilee for the Earth. Climate change is a result of the intersection of greed, inequality and destruction of God’s earth. The theme of Jubilee for the Earth” reflects those three interlocking themes. Jubilee is a time to renounce overconsumption and economic systems based on constant economic growth at the cost of the Earth and those who are poor. Jubilee is a time when those who have consumed the most must make restitution to those who have suffered the most. Jubilee is a time of rest for the land from constant exploitation, to restore ecosystems and people.
The concept of Jubilee is rooted in the holy wisdom that there must exist a just and sustainable balance between social, economic and ecological realities. When one variable is exploited to maximize growth of another, the whole system will eventually suffer. When one part of the Earth community is stressed, every part is affected. In 2020, the novel coronavirus pandemic demonstrated this reality on a global scale. While the experience of living with the COVID-19 outbreak points back to this need to maintain justice, the lessons that we learn may point us towards the need for a Jubilee and motivate us to restore balance to the very systems that sustain life.
And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. (Leviticus 25:10, NRSV)
Julilee means “a ram’s horn.” It was blown at a time of universal redemption. The year of Jubilee involved release from indebtedness, when injustices of the past fifty years were to be restored. It was also a time for rest for the land. The theme of Jubilee has clear links to the root paradigms fueling unjust exploitation, such as neoliberal and capitalist approaches to the world economy. It brings together the need for a prophetic voice on climate injustice and actions for the restoration of the Earth. The theme of Jubilee affirms the need for equality, justice and sustainability, and a transition to sustainable economies. It honours the Jubilee 2000 Campaign, which successfully called for an amnesty on debt for global South countries and redistribution of wealth. And 2020 marks 50 years since the first Earth Day when the environmental movement was born.
A Climate Emergency
We are in the midst of a climate emergency. Several studies have indicated that the world is nowhere near meeting pledged emission reduction rate targets. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report highlights that “only with rapid and far-reaching” transitions in the world economy, on a scale and at a rate without historical precedent, can the 1.5°C limit be achieved. It is therefore a time to reconcile ourselves with creation through concrete repentance and urgent action.
The Season of Creation is a time to acknowledge that tipping points are being reached, threatening the lives of the most vulnerable and putting the lives of future generations in jeopardy. As people of faith, we are being called to stand up against
climate injustice in prophetic ways.
The theme of Jubilee affirms the need for equality, justice and sustainability
The Season of Creation 2020 will also be an important moment for the Christian family to raise a united voice for rapid and radical ambitious action ahead of the 26th annual United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) to address the climate crisis.
COP 26 is particularly significant, as parties are due to announce how they will implement the Paris Climate Agreement (and whether they will fall short). It is a time when faith communities are called to support and challenge their countries’ leadership to implement visionary and significant goals. It is also a time when we must listen to the prophetic voices of young people.
Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month—on the Day of Atonement—you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land. (Leviticus 25:9, NRSV)
Prophetic call of hope
As people of faith we are called to sound a voice of hope, like the Jubilee. We lament, for everywhere we hear the groaning of creation. So we act as carriers of creation, and we sound the horn of hope, for the Earth and all they that live in it belong to the Lord. We know that God has promised the renewal of this Earth.
During this critical and trying time, we acknowledge our role as people of faith in sounding hope amidst this current crisis and affirm ourselves as prophetic witnesses. Jesus has given us a choice between God and Mammon. For the sake of the Earth
and all creatures, we have no choice but to pursue Justice (Micah 6:8).
Season of Creation 2020 is an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of Jubilee today, especially in the lead-up to COP26. How will we, as persons and as the Church:
- Recognize God’s ownership of the whole earth, and all our ‘possessions’?
- Release what we have back to God, both spiritually and practically?
- Recognize our total dependency on God and his creation?
- Receive God’s provision, in patience and trust?
What does it mean for the church to declare ‘the year of the Lord’s favour’? How can we glorify God for the hope we have in Christ, who restores and redeems the Earth? What changes will we see for those who are poor, and the land we enslave? We are far from a picture of Jubilee provision. As God’s Earth suffers, God’s people suffer also. Season of Creation 2020 encourages churches and Christians to participate through:
- Prayer: including praise for God’s provision, repentance for our greed and complicity in the suffering of Earth and our neighbours, intercession for those vulnerable to climate chaos, and releasing all we have back to God
- Practice: auditing our own mistreatment of the Earth, and committing to new practices individually and as worshipping communities
- Advocacy: encourage states to ensure that climate justice and steps to a green economy are part of the COVID-19 economic recovery plans
- Action: participate in civil action to put pressure on Governments to produce ambitious national targets (NDCs) for COP26
Season of Creation 2020 Prayer
Creator of Life,
At your word, the Earth brought forth plants yielding seed
and trees of every kind bearing fruit.
The rivers, mountains, minerals, seas and forests sustained life.
The eyes of all looked to you to satisfy the needs of every living thing.
And throughout time the Earth has sustained life.
Through the planetary cycles of days and seasons,
renewal and growth, you open your hand to give creatures our food in the proper time.
In your Wisdom, you granted a Sabbath;
a blessed time to rest in gratitude for all that you have given;
a time to liberate ourselves from vicious consumption;
a time to allow the land and all creatures to rest from the burden of production.
But these days our living pushes the planet beyond its limits.
Our demands for growth, and our never-ending cycle of production and consumption are exhausting our world.
The forests are leached, the topsoil erodes,
the fields fail, the deserts advance, the seas acidify, the storms intensify.
We have not allowed the land to observe her Sabbath,
and the Earth is struggling to be renewed.
During this Season of Creation,
we ask you to grant us courage to observe a Sabbath for our planet.
Strengthen us with the faith to trust in your providence.
Inspire us with the creativity to share what we have been given.
Teach us to be satisfied with enough.
And as we proclaim a Jubilee for the Earth,
send Your Holy Spirit to renew the face of creation.
In the name of the One
who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Visit seasonofcreation.org