We received this letter from Ms. Jane Martinez, the Principal of St. Hilda's Anglican School. It's wonderful to hear about our friends in Belize. Please keep the teachers, students and their families in your prayers.
Greetings Kelley,
It's so wonderful to hear from you.
We started off the school year with major challenges because I had three teachers out and no replacement. I had to go into the classroom until the end of November and the management shuffled teachers from other schools so I could have gotten some assistance. With all the challenges, our first part of the year went well. Our enrollment went up and we have a feeding program in place for an average of 50 children daily.
We are planning to get our playground and fencing project for the preschool going this year.
Thanks so much for thinking of us and for the continued support. Here's a video of our children showcasing activities for the first term.
Love and appreciate you all. I pray that this year will be a blessed one.
Jake McGlothin says it’s only logical that the two most important social institutions in our society should work together. He outlines what churches can share with schools as well as how engagement with schools can positively impact a congregation.
Dean Geoffrey Hall and Cathedral Treasurer Jamie Yeamans were pleased to visit Montgomery Street School on 15 December to present a donation to help children in need at the school. They were welcomed by Principal David Burrell and several children, who were thankful for the $2000 donation toward the school lunch and winter clothing programs.
Members of the Cathedral congregation had contributed to a Giving Tuesday campaign to support the programs at the school, which has a number of children in need.
Montgomery Street Elementary School is located up the hill from Christ Church Cathedral, beside the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University. It has a diverse student body. Approximately 250 children are enrolled in Kindergarten to Grade 5, and the child to parent ratio is high. Its Home and School Association, a volunteer group of parents, guardians and staff representatives, regularly fundraises for school initiatives and to support students and families in need.
This is the third year that the Cathedral congregation has been involved. In 2021 and 2022, donated funds were directed towards the lunch program and ensuring that children in need have adequate winter clothing to safely enjoy Fredericton's winter climate. In 2021, funds also helped to create sensory rooms for children with developmental challenges.
We're grateful for the contributions to this community outreach project which will help to feed and clothe our neighbours in need.
Principal Burrell shared this message for our congregation:
I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation on behalf of the staff, students and families of Montgomery Street School to Christ Church Cathedral. Your generous contribution during your Giving Tuesday campaign will have a positive impact on our school community. We are fortunate to have community partners like Christ Church Cathedral who share in our ongoing pursuit of providing assistance for families in need, especially at this time of year. Thank you and happy new year.
The Rev'd Canon Rod Black, Doug Milander, Susan Black, Steve Hayward & Michele LeBlanc
On Monday, 18 December, the Cathedral Outreach Committee and volunteers from New Maryland United Church welcomed people in need to Memorial Hall for a pre-Christmas edition of Monday Outreach (usually held on the last Monday of each month).
64 guests received goodie bags, fruit, candy, socks and groceries. Guests also received a Christmas card with a $20 grocery store gift card. Toys and treats were given to people with children or grandchildren, and people could choose gently used clothing and household goods from a table of donated items.
The next such event will be held 29 January, 2024 with treat bags, used clothing and $10 gift cards. The committee deeply appreciates the congregation's support of these efforts, and the support of New Maryland United Church, who also gave a substantial financial donation toward the Outreach program.
Ann Deveau with Steve Hayward from New Maryland United Church, handing out special treats prepared by his church (longtime supporters of the Monday Outreach program).
The photos show some of the volunteers that were at the Hall helping to bring Christmas joy to our neighbours in need. We missed getting a photo of the crew in the Formation Room with the children's items (Rev. Kelly Burke from NMUC, Julie Maston & Joanne LeBlanc Haley).
Thank you to everyone who helped, onsite and in advance. The pre-Christmas assistance was sincerely appreciated by the guests.
We've raised almost $1500, so far, towards a local school lunch and winter clothing program through our Giving Tuesday initiative! Donations are still accepted online and through offering envelopes, with tax receipts provided. Thanks for your support!
Can we count on your support for our 'Giving Tuesday' campaign this year?
We have committed to continue our support for a food and winter clothing program for families in need at nearby Montgomery Street School, which has a number of children in need. Can you help fulfill our $2000 pledge? Donate to this project online using our Giving Tuesday donation page, or use an envelope marked "Giving Tuesday/school lunch program". Donations can be made anytime - not just on Tuesday! Tax receipts will be provided for contributions. Thank you for your generosity!
Montgomery Street Elementary School is located up the hill from Christ Church Cathedral, beside the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University. It has a diverse student body. Approximately 250 children are enrolled in Kindergarten to Grade 5, and the child to parent ratio is high. Its Home and School Association, a volunteer group of parents, guardians and staff representatives, regularly fundraises for school initiatives and to support students and families in need.
The Cathedral Bishop and Chapter approved a donation in 2021 to assist with the school lunch program, provide winter clothing to students in need, and assist in the creation of sensory rooms for children with developmental needs. In 2022, $2000 was raised through a Giving Tuesday campaign, to support the lunch and clothing program organized by volunteers. We hope to continue supporting those programs for children in need, and hope that you will feel called to help.
Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement which takes place each year after the retail sale days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The “opening day of the giving season,” it’s a time when charities, companies and individuals rally for favourite causes, encouraging people to give to charitable causes to transform their communities and the world.
Carrie Culligan-Yeamans is a volunteer with the school, and a member of the Cathedral congregation. She shares this message:
"Montgomery Street School’s Home and School Association is extremely grateful for the support from the Cathedral Outreach Committee and Cathedral members over the last couple of years. The congregation continues to show how God’s love can change the world and how it starts with our community!
Our Home and School’s priority is to ensure that the students within our school have adequate winter clothing and food throughout the school day. We have been able to expand our hot-lunch program from two to four days a week, and to also provide milk four days a week to approximately a dozen children. Over the last couple of years, we have noticed the need grow throughout the school year as food and gasoline prices continue to climb. After the Cathedral’s donation last year, the school was also able to provide support a family of six who, unexpectedly, had a pipe burst in their apartment during a cold snap and had to seek temporary shelter in a motel. We were able to provide the family with some groceries during their stay and wouldn’t have been able to provide the support to the family if it wasn’t for the Cathedral’s generous donations.
On behalf of the students, parents and teachers at Montgomery Street School, I’d like to thank you for past donations and for our continued partnership."
The school is also accepting new or gently used winter clothing for children. Speak with Carrie or contact the Cathedral Office if you have items to donate, and we will ensure that they are delivered to the school.
Christ Church Cathedral is pleased to help children in need in our neighbourhood. We also engage in community support through regular Monday Outreach events, providing space for community social programming, and hosting and encouraging the performing arts.
Potential deacons and priests in the Diocese of Fredericton both enter into a discernment process that helps to clarify if they are being called to ordained ministry.
While the roles of deacons and priests are different, the qualities required for ordination are similar. The Diocese seeks to ordain people who are:
Gatherers and builders of the community
Rooted in Christ-centred spiritual practice that is Anglican in approach
Emotionally and relationally mature
Able to offer strong leadership and to work collegially under the authority of others
Good listeners and lifelong learners
Good stewards of their body, mind and spirit, and of the other relationships in their lives
The Iona Report was helpful in delineating diaconal competencies to guide in both the discernment and function of the ministry of the deacon. Competencies are arranged into seven areas each of which are described as they are aligned with the deacon at the 1) time of selection, 2) the time of ordination and, 3) in life-long learning.
Area A: DIAKONIA AND THE DIACONATE
Area B: HUMAN AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING
Area C: SPIRITUALITY AND SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Area D: PRACTICAL TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
Area E: CHURCH POLITY AND DIACONAL MINISTRY IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE
Area F: SCRIPTURE
Area G: CHRISTIAN HISTORY
All of the angels have been chosen. Thank you! Please drop off your gift by November 26th.
Fifty paper angels from Greener Village (the food bank) are waiting to be chosen from a little tree with white lights in the cathedral. Each requests a specific Christmas gift or stocking stuffers for a needy boy or girl in our city.
Please print your name and telephone number on the clipboard to indicate which angel you're adopting. Bring the unwrapped gift, with the paper angel firmly attached, to the church on Sunday, 26 November. Drop-off boxes will be set up near the angel tree.
If you can't bring your gift that Sunday, please take it to the Cathedral Office earlier or at the latest on Monday, 27 November between 9 a.m. and noon.
“Last year the food bank supplied nearly 3,000 gifts for needy children, and the total is expected to be much higher this year,” Outreach Committee treasurer Doug Milander said. “The cathedral family has been helping with this effort for more than 25 years, and the generosity is greatly appreciated.”
The committee must purchase any gifts that arrive late or not at all.
He added that another longstanding option at the cathedral is to write a cheque payable to Christ Church Cathedral and indicate Christmas Outreach on the memo line. The cheque should be delivered to the office by 18 December. As in past years, these funds will be divided equally among the Fredericton Homeless Shelters, Women in Transition House Inc. and the Fredericton Community Kitchen.
Doug Milander in the early days of the pandemic, with a mask outdoors handing out gift cards and bus tickets.
It's a challenging time for the Cathedral's Outreach Committee. The number of people-in-need is ticking upwards, the weather is getting chillier, and COVID-19 is still lurking around many corners.
“Our average number of guests for Monday Morning Outreach has always been 40-ish in past years, but we're routinely seeing 50-to-60 people a month throughout 2023,” Outreach Committee treasurer Doug Milander said.
“We've noticed that more families with small kids are coming, more newcomers to Canada, even international students,” he said. “Rising inflation, high grocery prices, steep rents have been taking a toll on everybody. We hear a lot of sad stories.”
Volunteer Mary Lou Cotter packs goodie bags.
He added that people really appreciate what's offered with a smile: a $10 gift card for a supermarket, some non-perishable groceries, a goodie bag with homemade treats and fresh fruit, free used clothing and toiletries.
The committee is blessed with a good budget from the cathedral coffers, donations from some individuals as well as from New Maryland United Church, and a steady supply of fresh fruit from St. Margaret's Anglican Church.
A kind-hearted squad of cathedral members bakes cookies and muffins, or makes sandwiches, for the goodie bags. “People are so good, and we're more than grateful for the help,” Doug noted.
What was once normal for Monday Morning Outreach: a room buzzing with people chatting, live music, and plenty of food served buffet style.
The committee thought the pandemic would be truly over by now so that indoor, buffet-style gatherings could resume for the guests who enjoy the chance to get out of the cold and socialize.
“New mutations of the virus keep popping up, and hospitalizations are rising again lately,” Doug said. “We hesitate to revert to a sit-down event because we want to keep our volunteers and guests as safe as possible.”
Local blogger Charles LeBlanc with then-parish nurse Kathleen Snow who offered blood pressure and glucose testing for guests.
He notes that the number of volunteers has already dwindled. Some folks who participated regularly have died, fallen ill, left the cathedral during the pandemic and never returned, or found other priorities. The parish nurse was also a valued aspect of the Monday gatherings, and now there is none.
- by Ann Deveau
If you would like to help prepare food or volunteer to help on the last Monday of the month, please contact the Cathedral Office (506) 450-8500.
Since 2010, the congregation of Christ Church Cathedral has provided a scholarship program for students in Belize. High school is not publicly funded in that country, and finances are a barrier which prevents some children from receiving formal education past Grade 8.
For the 2023-2024 school year, our new scholarship student is Silvia Trapp. She is a 13 year old girl who recently graduated from St. Hilda’s Anglican School in Georgeville, Belize. Silvia lives with her parents and four siblings, and looks forward to the opportunity to be enrolled in Grade 9 this fall.
In addition to Silvia, scholarship students include Caleb Martinez (Grade 10) and Korey Kelly (Grade 11). Unfortunately, Edvin Perez was not able to remain in full-time studies after a long bout of illness after contracting COVID-19, and Gian Myvett was no longer a student in good standing in his high school courses. The Cathedral also provides funds each term to St. Hilda’s Anglican School, the elementary school from which each of these students graduated. Our congregation’s relationship with St. Hilda’s goes back to 2005.
"It’s been a privilege to be given the opportunity to further my education. I am very grateful I was awarded this scholarship. There are many kids like me that are raised by a single parent out there and are wishing for this opportunity. Thanks for the scholarship that was awarded to me and for the continuous support, I look forward to making St. Hilda’s proud, and be an example to the other students that will be awarded a scholarship."
- Korey Kelly
"My educational pursuits would not have been possible without your generous donation. Thank you for supporting me towards reaching my fullest potential."
In this year of unprecedented wildfires from coast to coast, including those currently forcing evacuations in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia, the Prinate's World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) has established a fund specifically for in-Canada emergency response.
The frequency and severity of natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes and floods is increasing, affecting thousands of individuals. This new fund will allow a quick response when a diocese asks for support, rather than wait to raise funds for individual disasters. Dioceses can access the new In-Canada Emergency Fund by requesting short-, medium- and longer-term support. This could include emergency accommodations, gift cards to purchase food, water and essentials, counselling and post-trauma supports, or locally identified long-term recovery activities to help rebuild community assets and increase community resilience.
