As part of our Cathedral Faces series, we are sharing biographies of our clergy and staff members. These dedicated individuals contribute a lot to our community, in ways seen and unseen, and we are thankful for their work.

Geoffrey Hall has been Dean of Fredericton since September 2014. As a priest of the Diocese of Fredericton, he is the appointed priest at Christ Church Cathedral and serves a canonical role in the Diocese outlined in Canon Four s.5 and in the Bishop and Chapter By-Law.

Geoffrey holds a BEd (Major-Secondary Environmental Studies, Minor-General Science) from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton (1986) and was admitted to the degree of Master of Divinity (MDiv) at Atlantic School of Theology (1990). In the Diocese he has served in the parishes of St. Phillip's, Moncton, Central Kings, St. Paul, the Tobique, Grand Bay, Ketepec, as Archdeacon of St. Andrews (2001-2003) and was Diocesan Archdeacon and Executive Assistant to Bishop Claude Miller (2003-2014).

Originally from Woodstock NB, Geoffrey is married to Kelley and feels called particularly to ministries of Christian proclamation and faith development. He enjoys music and the casual study of things technological, especially that which enables and enhances communication. When not attending to the duties of ministry, spending time with family (two grandchildren!), experimenting with some of what is possible with computer-based technology and the internet and making a bit of wine all keep him more than occupied.

As part of our Cathedral Faces series, we are sharing biographies of our staff members and clergy. These dedicated individuals contribute a lot to our community, in ways seen and unseen, and we are thankful for their work.

Kirsten McKnight is passionate about creating positive change through community collaboration and inclusiveness.

She holds a B.A. from Memorial University of Newfoundland (History and Political Science) and an LL.B. from the University of New Brunswick. She spent 15 years working as a consultant for The Quaich Inc. with a variety of non-profit organizations on health promotion initiatives, communications and event planning; most notably, the Atlantic Summer Institute on Healthy and Safe Communities, Special Olympics PEI, the Canadian Breast Cancer Network, the Public Health Agency of Canada's Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative, and the New Brunswick Breast and Women's Cancer Partnership. In her personal life, Kirsten has volunteered with a number of youth-focused community groups.

Born in Ontario, Kirsten has lived in five provinces and her strongest roots are in Newfoundland, where most of her extended family lives. Her family owns a record company specializing in traditional Newfoundland music, Avondale Music. Fun fact: in university, she spent several years on-air at the MUN campus radio station. She met her husband Brad, a Pharmacist from PEI, at MUN. They have lived in Fredericton since 2002 and have two daughters: Claire and Charlotte.

Kirsten has grown in faith as part of the Cathedral’s church family: through worship, as a member of the Communications Committee, a Belize mission team member (2013), and a volunteer for programs and events. As Office Administrator, she also sits on the Finance and Administration Committee.

She joined the Cathedral staff in the fall of 2020, following the retirement of longtime Office Administrator Fran Miles. In the course of her duties, Kirsten produces digital and print communications, acts as a liaison between the Cathedral and community organizations, assists Cathedral groups with tasks as-needed, and provides records management and financial assistance. She enjoys meeting people as the front-line contact in the office.

She feels blessed to be a part of the Cathedral’s staff, helping to connect the community for God’s purposes.

As part of our Cathedral Faces series, we are sharing biographies of our clergy and staff members. These dedicated individuals contribute a lot to our community, in ways seen and unseen, and we are thankful for their work.

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Debbie grew up in Keswick Ridge, New Brunswick, where she still makes her home with Phillip, her husband of 45+ years. They have two sons and daughters-in-law and four grandchildren, who are a tremendous source of joy.

She is a life-long Anglican, with, as she describes, “a well rounded Ecumenical background.” Drawing on her rural roots, she leads workshops and retreats with humour and a down to earth sense of the sacred. Debbie was ordained as a Vocational Deacon on 01 February 2009. She completed training in Spiritual Direction with the Haden Institute in conjunction with Mount Carmel Spiritual Center in Niagara Falls in 2014.

She is employed as a Spiritual Care Practitioner at Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital. She has always been involved with her church community through groups and activities from teaching Sunday School to serving on Vestry to being a Layreader and then being called to Ordained Ministry, which she feels is an ongoing learning and awakening experience. She is the Diocesan Representative for the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer and is also a member of the Diocesan Spiritual Development Team. She has volunteered with the Fredericton Homeless Shelters, and also was a volunteer reader with AMI-Accessible Media Inc.

As part of our Cathedral Faces series, we are sharing biographies of our staff members. These dedicated individuals contribute a lot to our community, in ways seen and unseen, and we are thankful for their work.

Ashley John Swim was born in Oromocto and raised in McAdam, where his family still resides. As a child and youth he spent a lot of time on his grandfather’s farm just outside McAdam near the New Brunswick/Maine border. He considers himself an outdoorsman and loves nature, and is also an avid reader with a broad range of interests. He loves history and one of his favorite hobbies is tracing ancestry and genealogy.

Ashley has worked in a variety of settings over the years, including the YMCA of Fredericton, Christ Church Parish Church, Brunswick Street Baptist Church, the University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University, and most recently the Maritime Forestry Complex.

Ashley is a proud New Brunswicker and Maritimer. He loves Fredericton and enjoys hiking and biking the many trails in and around the city. During the weekend and summer vacation, he can usually be found with his wife Lana and daughters Piper and Sundae near the ocean, either on Grand Manan or Pocologan. Ashley is very grateful to be a part of the Cathedral congregation.

As Cathedral Sexton, Ashley's work involves the cleaning and care of Christ Church Cathedral and Cathedral Memorial Hall. He frequently liaises with service providers, the Property Committee and Heritage Standing (the engineering firm that wrote the Cathedral Conditions and Issues Report). The position of Sexton is integral to the overall operations of Christ Church Cathedral.

This summer, we are pleased to welcome two Cathedral tour guides: Alex LeBlanc and Sophia Pacione. Learn about Alex below.

Learning to Adapt

This summer, we are pleased to welcome two Cathedral tour guides: Sophia Pacione and Alex LeBlanc. Here is Sophia's story.

Learning from Others

Everyone seems to have a different reason for entering the Cathedral as a building, let alone as a church. It is interesting for me, as a tour guide this summer, to see the contrast between the various Cathedral visitors. Some tourists simply come to admire the architecture, snapping a photo or two. Others are drawn to what it means symbolically. All, in my mind, are fascinating.

People have travelled from all over the world to be here, which has truly struck me by surprise. Frankly, it still shocks me. But that’s not to say that tourists are our only visitors—I have a soft spot for the many Frederictonians who stop by, curious to explore a building they’ve gone past dozens, if not hundreds, of times, yet never felt inclined to enter. It’s always a joy.

Now, after a few weeks of working, I’ve become quite comfortable with the job and all its parts. But my first day (which, somewhat ironically, had the most tours) was a bit nerve-wracking. I was still in the process of memorizing the material, so when an Ontarian pair came in and took up the offer for a tour, I was certain it would go poorly. The worries were unwarranted, however; the two were incredibly understanding whenever I’d fumble over words, listening intently to each snippet regardless. I really appreciated that.

Three other tours from that shift have stuck with me, even now. First was a lady from Fredericton. She jokingly agreed to the tour if it would keep me from sitting around all day. She told fascinating stories, and soon we were laughing and chatting easily. Then, after she’d remarked on a church from her childhood, I asked her if she was religious. Her reply was kind, expressing that while she wasn't devout, people tend to develop a different view of the church as they get older—herself included. She liked cathedrals because they were peaceful places, at least most of the time, where one could enjoy their own thoughts without bother. I’m inclined to agree; more than once I’ve found myself lost in a reverie, almost melancholic, when staring at the stain glass. It’s lovely.

That same day, a family of three B. C. tourists came in: a fellow in his twenties, a friend of his, and the first man’s mother. At first, though they had agreed to a tour, none of them seemed particularly interested, especially not the first man. But slowly, they became invested in the Cathedral’s history. "Where is John Medley buried, if this is just a cenotaph? How do you get up to the clock? What was Bishop Medley's wife's name?"—it was questions like these that they’d ask at each stop. Most were even asked by the man who had shown the least enthusiasm initially. It felt rewarding to see them absorb what they had just been told, taking a candid interest in the information. There’s a strong sense of gratification to be had from teaching, which I’d never had the chance to experience before.

Later that afternoon, about an hour and a half before closing, another man came in. He asked politely if there was a place to put his bag, inquiring whether he could look around or not. He seemed relieved when I answered, "Yes", and after it was offered, agreed that a tour would be wonderful. As we made our way around, we talked—a guarantee when giving a tour, I’ve learned—and went on to explain how life had not been going swell for him of late. He didn’t know what to do, or how to fix things, so he had decided to come here to pray; something he said he hadn’t done in years. So, from then on, he sat. Sometimes he was praying, asking a question every once and a while. Sometimes, he was simply sitting. However, throughout the duration of his time in the pew, his demeanor changed. It was as if he’d gotten something off his shoulders, and could stand just a little bit taller. As the time to go came, he wished me well, and I him, and that was that.

Before he’d done so, I had never seen someone pray alone in a church. It seemed to me, as a removed onlooker, that it was a far more personal experience than what I pictured praying to be, a room of people singing and reciting as one. Not to say that one kind of prayer is better than the other—just that this was an aspect of faith I hadn’t considered much before, the individual experience, as opposed to that of the congregation as a whole.

Personally, I’m not religious; however, I do think that everyone should seek the chance to view others practicing their religion, whatever your personal beliefs may be. Many, many groups and individuals have been left hurt by religion, or religious organizations, so I don’t say that to glorify religious faith in the slightest. But to fear the concept enough to avoid learning about it is to shut yourself off to a major part of human nature and history, which I don’t feel helps anyone. Though that’s just how I personally see it, and my experience is admittedly quite limited.

Throughout the summer so far, the biggest thing I’ve come to realize is that you tend to learn more from others than you ultimately teach or show. Not about the information you’re giving them, of course—but from their experiences, views, and stories. To listen is an invaluable tool, especially in a job like this. I look forward to the rest of my time at the Cathedral, and to the wonderful, diverse group of people and perspectives that I hope to meet.

- by Sophia Pacione

Sophia is going into grade 12 at Fredericton High School. She is not sure what her future will bring, but she loves to read, travel, and study art and history.