Category Archives: Ministry

Deacons in the Diocese of Fredericton

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Since early Christian times, there have been different types of ministry within the Church. Since the time of the New Testament, three distinct orders of ordained ministries have been known in the Church – bishops, priests, and deacons. Each order has its specifc duties, but all work together. Somehow, over time, the ministry of deacon has become one of transition; the hands-on experience of those waiting to be priested. But that is not the original intention of that order. The role of vocational deacon is to exemplify the servant church.

A vocational deacon is a person who personifies the servant church in the secular world. This person will already be employed (or retired from) a service-related profession — so will have that important connection of bridging the Church and the world.

Because the deacon is employed, their ministry in the church is non-stipendiary. Expenses will be determined on an individual basis, but generally include such items as gas, travel, and outreach projects. A (vocational) deacon is not seeking further ordination, is not called to be priest — it is a permanent ministry.

The ministry of (vocational) deacon is primarily a ministry of service. It exercises the ministry of Christ to those beyond the church proper by serving as a catalyst, encourager, and guide for lay members engaged in outreach ministries. Deacons also assist bishops and priests in proclaiming the Gospel message and in the administration of the Sacraments.

By word and example, deacons are to make the redemptive love of Christ known in the places in which they live, work, and worship.
Deacons, by virtue of their call, are the prophetic leaders who challenge the Church to always look beyond itself. They are the living models that illuminate Christ as the model of servanthood.

Deacons will be the leaders who have a visibility to the needy and will strengthen the servant ministry of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Fredericton.

This ministry is carried out in five different, but interdependent, means:
a. to model servant ministry in the workplace;
b. to enable the servant ministry of the Church;
c. to witness to the Gospel by articulating to those served that this is a ministry of the whole Christian Church;
d. to interpret to the Church the needs, hopes, and concerns of the local secular community; and
e. to assist bishops and priests in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church.

The primary responsibility for recognizing a vocation to ordained ministry lies with the parish. Discerning a call is not a private matter, but the proper concern of the entire Church.

The discernment process is essential. It is the Church itself that discerns in the individual the work of the Holy Spirit. The Church, through our Baptismal Covenant, is committed to support one another in ministry - whatever form that ministry takes. The Church, as a corporate body, must recognize, test and affirm an individual call. The first step in this process is for the individual to meet with his/her incumbent priest to ask for affirmation/ information/support. Then a PDC (parish discernment committee) is formed.

An Archdeacon will chair the first meeting that Committee. The PDC will offer a summary report to the parish corporation. The role of the PDC is clearly defined in Directive 7.1 The Parish Discernment Committee. The discernment process should not be rushed, can take up to six months, but with due diligence can be completed in three.

The rector/priest-in-charge of any parish has a critical role in guiding an inquirer to respond to God's call.
He/she is in a good position to recognize people whose gifts call them to 'servant ministry'. Because the first step in the discernment process is this initial conversation between the inquirer and rector/priest, the incumbent clergy must be supportive of the ministry of deacon.

It would be almost impossible for an inquirer to proceed without this support.
After preliminary discussions, if the incumbent clergy concludes that, indeed, this person is called, then that clergy would initiate the formation of a parish discernment committee.

The educational component is a four-part program.
1. A certificate in theological studies, available by distance education from an accredited theological institution. This includes four course units; Old Testament, New Testament, Survey of Theology and Theology/Spirituality of Ministry.
2. Tutorials offered within the diocese. These will be held as a group, to build community. Topics include The Diaconate, Liturgical Formation, Ministry of Deacons, Anglican Polity, Church History, and Sacramental Theology.
3. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) or other studies in pastoral and religious care.
4. Post-ordination studies, which include Prevention of Sexual Misconduct, Canons, Diocesan Policies and other pertinent topics.

Upon completion of the discernment process, the parish commendation, and application from the individual, the Inquirer moves to Aspirant status. Upon completion of the educational requirements, the Aspirant, with the Bishop's permission, moves to Postulant status.

Upon acceptance by the Bishop and the Commission on the Diaconate, the Postulant moves to Candidate status. Upon completion of pre-ordination documentation and a ministry appointment, details of the ordination are arranged. The Candidate is ordained a (vocational) deacon, and is licensed by the Bishop.

All ordinations will take place in the Cathedral. This is a diocesan event. The deacon's parish will hold their own celebrations following ordination.

from a brochure on the vocational diaconate
Diocese of Fredericton, 2009

Lend your support to a school lunch and winter clothing program

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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.

Deacon Competencies

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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.

Discernment leading to the diaconate
Discernment leading to priesthood

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

Download, view or print the Competencies for Deacons

Safe Church at Christ Church Cathedral

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At Christ Church Cathedral we take the safety of all people seriously. We are committed to cooperating with our own Diocesan Safe Church procedures,  those of the Anglican Church of Canada and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Over the last several years significant progress has been made at all levels of the church to help protect and assure that the church is a safe place to be. Perhaps especially we need to be vigilant with regard to ministry with children, the elderly and vulnerable individuals. Safety is the responsibility of us all and at all times.

Visit the Cathedral Safe Church page to find out more.

Advent candles made by Mothers’ Union

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On Saturday, 28 October, the Cathedral Branch of Mothers’ Union got together in the Cathedral Hall Kitchen to make sets of Advent Candles.

We have been making these beeswax candles for at least 20 years now. It is the major fundraiser for our group. Each fall, the purple and pink wax is ordered from a company in British Columbia, and we are always surprised at the various shades of these two colours that we receive. Equipped with our hair dryers, we arrive at the Hall kitchen, prepared to make and assemble the sets we hope to sell that year just prior to Advent. We know these candles have become a major part of the Advent celebration in the homes of Cathedral members and others who seek them out each year.

This activity was traditionally carried out at our October Wednesday night meeting, but last year we needed to meet on a Saturday to get it done. We so enjoyed that Saturday morning, and the lunch that followed afterwards, that we decided it would be nice to repeat that this year. About half of our 15 members were able to participate. You will see our members selling the $20 sets, that include 3 purple and 1 pink candle, in the Cathedral starting on 12 November through to the first Sunday in Advent.

The photo below is from our Spring Retreat that took place on Mactaquac Lake. Back row left to right: Sandra Noftell, Bonnie Greenwood, Rosa Macaulay, Susan Black, middle: Kelley Hall, Diane Nash, Susan Watson, Susan Colpitts-Judd, Michele Leblanc, front: Lilian Ketch, Isabel Cutler. Missing from photo: Kathleen Snow, John DosSantos, Joanne Barfitt and Diane Radford.

2023 Christmas Angels waiting to be adopted

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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.

The Ministry of Deacons – Diocese of Fredericton

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Role and Function of Deacons
A deacon needs to have the character of a servant, and this character should be visible in the deacon’s life and ministry. Ordination to the vocational diaconate is not a way to recognize or validate existing ministries, but a means of forming living icons who illuminate Christ as the model of servanthood to all the baptized. Deacons are not ordained to do the outreach ministry for the Church, but lead all in the church community into servant ministry in the world. They are prophetic ministers who are called to challenge the Church to always look outside and beyond itself.

Deacons are under the authority of the bishop and of the supervising priest under whom they work. The liturgical functions of a deacon are not their primary ministry, but are symbolic and expressive of their central ministry:

  • serving all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely;
  • interpreting to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world.

The fundamental difference between priests and deacons according to the late Archdeacon Ormond Plater of the Diocese of Louisiana is that “priests tend to the ‘Church gathered’, deacons tend to the ‘Church scattered.’” Deacons will normally serve 80% of their ministry in the community and 20% with the church. Deacons will be servants who have a visible ministry to the dispossessed, are willing to undertake the role of prophet, and will strengthen the servant ministry of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Fredericton.

A deacon is encouraged to attend meetings of the [church] Corporation; without vote but reporting regularly and when requested on the on-going work. A deacon assigned to a particular parish is considered “assistant clergy” and, as such, will resign should the incumbent resign his or her
appointment. A deacon may be re-appointed by the bishop to serve during the interim under the direction of the bishop and/or the territorial archdeacon and church wardens. Upon the appointment of a new incumbent, the deacon's covenant may be re-negotiated, or the bishop may
appoint the deacon to another ministry.

from Bishop's Directive 8-3 The Deacon in the Parish
Bishop of Fredericton: Directive 7.2 Discernment Leading to Ordination to the (Vocational) Diaconate
See the Diocese of Fredericton pamphet "The Ministry of Deacons"

Fall 2023 vaccines & rapid tests

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Remember to get your vaccines for both the flu and COVID-19. Let's be and keep others safe.

Click here for information about the influenza vaccine, and the updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Do you need rapid tests?

We no longer receive a supply of COVID-19 rapid test kits tests for the Cathedral and Memorial Hall, but you can still get tests for free from the NB government!

Visit this page to make an appointment to pick up test kits in Fredericton.

  • Click 'Register to pick up at-home POCT tests' to book an appointment for pick-up
  • Enter your birthdate, postal code and medicare number, and click the button for the appointment type: 'COVID-19 Point of Care Test (POCT) Kit Pick-up'
  • Choose your location
  • Select your time
  • Fill in your contact information
  • Confirm information

Then visit the Fredericton City Hall Service Centre at your appointment time to pick up your test kits. Administrators are giving multiple kits.

Note: Rapid test kits are also available at the Oromocto Public Library without an appointment.

The Diaconate of All Believers

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by Craig L. Nessan

Diaconia belongs to all the baptized as “a dimension integral to the nature and mission of the church” (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, p. 10). Called to Transformation gives new ecumenical attention to “the diaconate of all believers, based on the view that God’s spirit graciously empowers and equips for discipleship, from the youngest to the oldest, men and women (Acts 2:17)” (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, pp. 16–17).

From this follows that the diaconal vocation in the first place relates to everyday life: the family that cares for its members and in particular children and the elderly, the neighborhood and the workplace, civil society, and other arenas for social action (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, p. 17).

There is clear recognition that “diaconal activities organized by local congregations and other church structures, including professional diaconal agents, depend on and are largely borne by the diaconate of all believers” (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, p. 17). How can the church be mobilized by intentional focus on equipping the baptized for the diaconate of daily life?

While these ecumenical affirmations of the universal diaconate are crucial for the revitalization of the church, they have remained largely undeveloped beyond these formal acknowledgements. The homeostasis that strangles the vitality of the institutional church—which can be called “churchification”—remains a formidable challenge to reconstituting the church’s mission through the service of the baptized diaconate. In North America, a deep rift exists between what happens in the name of the institutional church and the rest of people’s lives. In this regard, the churches of the North have much to learn from the churches of Africa, South America, and Asia about validating and equipping all the baptized for their vocations in daily life (Jenkins 2006).

Baptism and confirmation constitute the ordination of the laity

The primary vocation of Christian people is to live out the covenant God in Christ made with them in baptism: “To live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth”. At the time of the Reformation, the universal priesthood was a radical claim about the equal status of all believers before God based on baptism. It was designed to overcome the dependency of the Christian people (laity) on the ministrations of a clerical hierarchy.

Baptism needs to be understood as a rite of ordination to the ministry for all Christian people. “Baptism and confirmation constitute the ordination of the laity, which makes it possible for them to participate in Christ’s ministry in and for the world” (Apostola 1998, p. 9). Affirming baptism as the primary ordination of Christian people grants significance and status to all the baptized as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By teaching baptism as ordination to ministry in the diaconate of all believers, the formation of the baptized for their service to others in daily life must be taken as seriously as theological education for deacons and pastors. The formation of believers for the universal diaconate begins with focused attention in the church’s worship, education, community, and leadership practices.

Read the full text from The Diaconate of All Believers: Theology, Formation, Practice, MDPI Journals, 4 June 2023

Outreach continues with health precautions

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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.