Looking forward, looking back
At least once each year it is a healthy and good exercise to stop and look backward. That’s not a useless reminiscence, but rather an opportunity to allow what God has been saying over the past year inform what happens in the next. In my day to day ministry, the days fly by, the weeks turn one into the other and the months the same – its Christmas and before I know it we’re preparing church bulletins for Easter.

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And each week I have a checklist of sorts. My best intentions are to collect as many checks as possible: an effort to meet church members on their home turf (home or workplace visitation), attention to those who are either celebrating something special or in some form of distress or sickness, preparation for the corporate experience of Sunday worship. For the most part, if I’ve managed to complete those commitments, I consider it a good week spent. But … but there is so much more. Every week brings with it unique needs and requirements. There are meetings. Oh the meetings, all important to both diocesan and cathedral life and they bring a busy punctuation to everything else. They too are important, but its sometimes difficult to see the immediate result. While Christ Church Cathedral is not a huge pastoral charge, it is among the largest in the Diocese of Fredericton. Being the one stipendiary priest brings with it a level of responsibility that is significant. I’m thankful for the honorary assisting clergy, the ministries of our staff, group and committee chairs, members of Bishop and Chapter and others who take our corporate life seriously and offer so much. I simply couldn’t do what I do and we couldn’t be what we are, without all of you.

New Staff
2016 was a year full of changes and challenges. This year we welcomed three new members of staff: David Drinkell, Kathleen Snow, and Lou McKnight. All have been a blessing to our team. Adam Lewis joined us for a time. It’s the unique gifts that each of them bring to their work that brings us closer to a comprehensiveness to which we need to aspire. The Christ Church Cathedral “package” and how we accomplish what we do is important for us, important for Fredericton and important for our Diocese. We can do better, but we are on the way.

A Diocesan Cathedral
Being a Cathedral doesn’t afford us an easier road than our sister parishes in the Diocese. Our boundaries are those of the Diocese, coterminous with the Province of New Brunswick. We hold a special place among Anglican churches in this part of God’s vineyard and with that place comes both rich blessing and great responsibility. The Cathedral should always be a church towards which our Diocese can look to see a best practices example of the challenging task of being Christian in the midst of our cultural context which, it would seem, is growing ever more secular. Excellence in worship, a leader in mission both far and near, exemplary pastoral care, a place where we are being formed into disciples of Jesus Christ. In short, we are a light on the hill and being that consistently takes effort, commitment and a huge dose of the grace of God.

Bishop and Chapter
The Chapter experienced several membership changes during 2016. Resignations of Bob Garland and Carol Dixon were received regretfully and we thank them for the contribution they so graciously made during their terms. We welcomed Ed Biden, Bonnie Greenwood and Kevin Percy, and to God we are thankful for their response to the call to serve. To members with terms concluding, Kathy McBride, Catherine Schmidt and Dianne Wilkins we express sincere thanks for their contributions.

During the Fall, members of Bishop and Chapter read “Divine Renovation: From a Maintenance to a Missional Parish” by James Mallon. In December a planning meeting identified several areas where as a church community we are doing very well. Two priorities needing attention were identified for the immediate future: 1) Ministries of Christian formation and 2) hospitality, welcoming and invitational ministries

The Good News
The good news over the past year is important to note:

• Confirmation preparation was held February to June, partnering with the Parish of New Maryland, and in June six Cathedral candidates were confirmed
• In May we began a regular schedule of the daily offices read in the Cathedral, Monday to Friday, 8:45 and 4:45 with help from a team of leaders – a very important addition to our regular worship schedule.
• Bishop and Chapter has continued to move into a council model of leadership and governance as we work towards functioning committees and drawing the circle of leadership ever wider
• The Cathedral hosted diocesan ordinations on 26 June and 18 September
• With permission obtained from our Bishop, home Communion administrators were trained, and began this ministry mid-year
• Financially we saw strengthened commitment in giving of about 11%. Commitments made to Parish Nursing is a significant part of that increase and certainly indicates we are being responsive to the corporate commitments we’ve made
• Several individuals responded to an invitation to become servers and we have been blessed with their service during worship
• In December David Drinkell began a regular Friday schedule of 12:10 organ concerts
• Choral Evensong continued on the first Sundays of the month
• Ministries, including the Director of Music, Parish Nurse and Sexton, were celebrated with commissioning on 20 November, the Reign of Christ
• Combined worship with all encouraged to join at 10:30 a.m. was held on Easter, Pentecost and the Reign of Christ Sundays

Some challenges
Needless to say, day to day operation and ministry is in itself a tremendous challenge. On the two “growing edges” identified by Bishop and Chapter I’ll briefly comment.

Christian formation
First of all, the word “formation” is new to many of us. It is not a substitute for the word “education.” Formation is a much broader term, recognizing that traditional education is only part of becoming Christian, something we are all doing every day. Worship, involvement in God’s mission and purpose for the Church, our witness to family, friends and the society in which we live, personal encounters with the divine – all of this and more are part of how we are shaped and formed into what God is calling us to be. How we are all constantly being moulded, “formed,” into disciples of Jesus Christ have come to light especially over the last few decades all across the Christian Church. Its not just the latest fad. Responsible for its recognition over the last several decades, is the reality of a growing secularism, or perhaps more accurately examples of religious faith publicly displayed and practiced being squeezed out of everything from Scouts to schools, Sundays to social life. Formation was somewhat automatic in times past. Community was different. The church was once central to the social and educational life of where we lived. What is being discovered is that if we as church are not intentional about formation at every age and stage of life, it may not happen. The absence of two or three generations of Christians in our midst is clear evidence. Parents leaving faith formation of their children to the corporate church, now too often clearly not equipped for the task, leaves a gaping hole.

Volunteers to run the programmes many of us expect should be automatic have become more and more difficult to engage. Do we have these people among us? I believe we do, but everyone will point to how busy their lives have become and that church, religion and faith now compete with many other important priorities. Few feel they are “qualified” and perceive they need training, co-ordination and coaching. It is for that reason that Bishop and Chapter and the Christian Formation Committee are seriously considering how we might bring that intentionality to how Christian formation happens at Christ Church Cathedral. It is yet another area behind which we will all need to get to take positive steps and begin to close the gap that many have been identifying for quite some time. Some will ask, “Is this about Sunday School?” The answer is “Yes.” But its about much more than Sunday School and includes an intergenerational approach to how we grow together in the faith. Those with experience have something invaluable to share with the younger in our faith family and, as is always the case, children always have something unique and valuable to teach us all. My prayer is that we stay tuned as we work our way forward because it is perhaps among the most critical of elements that will influence our present and determine our future.

Hospitality, welcoming and invitation
Hospitality is a biblical imperative. As a community of faith, the way we embrace those who are new, different and seeking is among the most important aspects of how we are the Church. “But my church is very friendly!” is not an uncommon sentiment I hear all too often. What we don’t often see is that the “my” in that sentence is the operative word. For those who already “belong,” my church is a friendly place! I know the people. I’m familiar with the surroundings. I know how things work. For the person unfamiliar, it can be, and is, an intimidating place to be indeed. While many believe a hand shaken and a copy of the Sunday bulletin at the door on a Sunday morning fulfills the hospitality requirement, that’s only the beginning.

This is the second priority for emphasis identified by Bishop and Chapter. How does a person who doesn’t yet belong to our congregational family become one of us? How do we consistently provide a sincere welcome to those who wander in and most often wander back out? Who is watching membership lists and assuring that those who are regular worshippers are identified correctly there? Does anything happen when someone quietly and unnoticed is no longer with us in worship? Does the onus lie entirely on the newcomer to attend to the necessary details of inclusion? Do we corporately and individually consistently make effective invitation? Is our church an inviting environment? Are we really an inviting place? Do we really want others to join us in the search for God in our midst? These are significant and difficult questions and the answers may surprise us all. And interestingly, we’ll unlikely find all the true answers among us.

Without a doubt, there are sensitivities that need to be recognized, but there is much that we can do to improve. Again being intentional and building in some systems and processes will go a long way to creating bridges where there now exists difficult terrain and sometimes even a great gulf in terms of membership boundaries and borders.

Conclusions
I continue to consider Christ Church Cathedral a very good place for me to be. After a decade in administration, my priestly vocation has been renewed over the past few years as I have the opportunity to preach regularly and attempt to be a pastoral presence in community. There are challenges. I could easily become overwhelmed. While I often wish I had the energy that was mine twenty years ago, it would seem That God has helped me learn the lesson one more time to take steps one at a time. I have a history of being a slow learner.

Pray if you will this coming year for Christian formation and hospitality, welcoming and invitation ministries.

The Cathedral is such a diverse and gifted church; our potential is incredible. I pray that we continue, by the grace of God, into 2017 relying of the Spirit of the One who calls us into his glorious light.

Respectfully submitted,
Geoffrey Hall. Dean of Fredericton

Some have inquired about when the Photo Directory will be available.

First, thanks to so many of you for participating! Approximately 104 photo sessions took place and a few people who were unable to make any of the sessions, provided photos to Universal Portrait Studios for inclusion in the Directory.

This week, there was conversation with Kara Barnaby regarding how production is coming along. The first draft, should come to the Communications Committee for proofing by the end of January. Once that is done, it will go back and a final full colour draft will be received. One more final editing and it will be ready to print. Kara predicts that, if all goes smoothly, the directories may be ready by the end of February.

She also mentioned that there is time to submit a photo of your own for inclusion, if you still wish to do so!

The basic information (name, address, etc) that will be available in the back of the directory will be as it appeared on the permission slips signed and submitted when photos were done. If you didn’t sign a permission slip, please let us know. You can contact or speak with Gail MacGillivray or the Cathedral Office and include what you wish to have printed (ie: name(s), address, telephone, email).

Once again, thanks to everyone who participated. We anticipate that this Directory will not only help us to know each other better but will be a very useful communications tool for the many Cathedral groups and organizations.

Gail MacGillivray
Communications Committee

On the celebration of the last Sunday of the Church year, the Reign of Christ (20 November 2016) the Cathedral took advantage of the opportunity to focus on the many ways the Christian community lives out the reality of the Kingdom of God in the midst of the world in which we live.  That day we commissioned the ministries that exist among us.  Three new members of staff were commissioned to their respective duties.  New servers, administrators of the reserved Sacrament at home and, leaders of the daily offices at the Cathedral (8:45 am and 4:45 pm, Monday – Friday) were also commissioned to all important ways that members of the Cathedral community minister the Gospel in many and various ways.  An additional commissioning for all other ongoing and existing ministries was part of the celebration.

The Dean of Fredericton made reference to our fragmentation as a congregation, the result of the advantage of a diverse worship experience on a normal Sunday morning.  We enjoy comprehensive worship, providing a wide range of liturgical style, but we are ultimately left with a situation where we don’t always know one another as we could or should.  The worship on 20 November was a combined worship, incorporating all of our styles into one.

Members of staff commissioned:

Cathedral Sexton (full-time): Louis McKnight
Lou has spent most of his life in Sussex, where he was born. He spent 33 years working for the Town of Sussex, both as a recreation maintenance man at the arena, and as an equipment operator at the works garage. He and his wife, Gisele (diocesan communications officer) moved to the Fredericton area in 2012 for Gisele’s work. Since then, Lou has worked at the Grant Harvey Centre and Kings Landing. He is very happy to be the Cathedral sexton. He loves to tinker and tear things apart in his garage. He is a whiz with bicycle and lawn mower repair and loves to build and fix things. His favourite “toy” is his 4-wheeler. Lou and Gisele have two grown daughters. Ashley is a librarian, and Jacqueline is studying to be a social worker.Cathedral

Parish Nurse (half-time): Kathleen Snow
Kathleen commenced her role as Parish Nurse on September 1, 2016. She has a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of New Brunswick. She holds certificates in Adult Education, Advanced Mediation, and is a Certified Privacy Professional. She is a Trainer and Facilitator in the Worldwide Mothers’ Union Parenting Program and completed her certification in Parish Nursing in November of 2014. Kathleen’s work experience includes 18 years in Labour and Delivery at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, 10 years as Patient Advocate for Horizon Health Authority and more recently, she held the role of Chief Privacy Officer. Kathleen is passionate about sharing her faith, and has led a woman’s home Bible Study for many years. She has been an active member of Mothers’ Union, and is currently a Representative Member and sits on a Fundraising and Communications Committee of the worldwide Mothers’ Union.  She is married to Tim, and has three sons Eric, David and Tim. She loves to run, garden, walk Jack and Maude, and enjoys Sunday lunch with her mother Margaret.

Director of Music (half-time): David Drinkell
David Drinkell, from Colchester, England, has been a church organist since the age of twelve.  After gaining his degree at Bristol University and a teaching qualification at Cambridge, he was responsible for the music at St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, St. Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast and St. John’s Cathedral, Newfoundland, coming to Fredericton in 2016.  He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Associate of the Royal College of Music and holds the Archbishop’s Diploma in Church Music.

For many years, Bishops, members of the Cathedral Chapter and members of the Diocesan Council have wrestled with the challenges of owning and maintaining five old Fredericton buildings (most of them historic) and paying their annual operating costs. Bishop Medley’s beautiful Cathedral is almost 170 years old and many of its aging parts cry out for another multi-million dollar restoration project. To that end a local heritage architect has given us a very comprehensive, multi-year maintenance plan that will be followed as funds become available. Cathedral Memorial Hall sits idle most of the time and, while structurally sound, it is in need of extensive and expensive renovations. Neither Bishop’s Court nor Odell House (the deanery) are being used as homes for the bishop or the dean, but we continue to spend good portions of our annual income to maintain them. The synod office at 115 Church St. is another beautiful old residence but it falls far short of being contemporary office space, and renovations are needed.

Meeting with the Bishop of Fredericton – 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, 15 November 2016 at the Cathedral

Annual maintenance and operations expenditures for these properties are substantial. In recent years, the Cathedral congregation’s average expenditures have totalled just less than $200,000 per year for the Cathedral, the former deanery (Odell House) and Memorial Hall, not including insurance. Even with that level of expenditures the deferred maintenance on these three buildings is in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. The diocese is spending approximately $ 36,000 each year to maintain Bishop’s Court and the diocesan office.

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The Dean of Fredericton, Geoffrey Hall, wrote to members of the Cathedral congregation on 12 October 2016 to communicate the news about vandalism that had taken place over the Thanksgiving weekend.  The note, with the subject line “Some unfortunate news” follows:

Members of Christ Church Cathedral Congregation,

I write with somewhat upsetting news that during the evening of Sunday, 09 October or the early morning of Monday, 10 October 2016, someone gained entrance to the Cathedral and subjected much of the interior to vandalism. A piece of outside furniture was taken from O’Dell House the evening before and there were reports of break-ins at other points along Brunswick Street. Unfortunately, the uncounted offering from Sunday was taken. E-offerings, of course are safe, cheques made out to the Cathedral will be unable to be cashed, but cash offerings were lost and the total amount is unknown. Monday morning is the usual time for counting and the bank deposit.

The Fredericton Police were on the scene early Monday morning and continue to process evidence obtained. The investigation is on-going and we await its outcome.

The good news is, there was a considerable mess created but no real damage. Thanks to members of the Sanctuary and St. Joseph’s guilds and others for helping to put things mostly to right again on Tuesday.

Needless to say, as with any act of vandalism or intrusion, the violation of our space creates a myriad of emotional reactions. Thankfully, this could have easily been far worse. The Cathedral and O’Dell House door locks have been changed, and the exterior and office doors inside the Memorial Hall will be completed on Wednesday.

Regards,

Geoffrey
Dean of Fredericton

Photo: Dalton London

The Dean provided an update for the Sunday bulletin of 16 October to communicate additional details. Locks have been changed as indicated.

Since informing the congregation, it has been discovered that three items were also lost: two electric guitars owned by Paul and Catherine MacDonald and a harmonica owned by Tom Fetter, all members of the 11:45 Music Group.

As the note says, the investigation is on-going.

We can again reiterate our thanks to all those who have helped to right the wrong.  While cash given on Sunday, 09 October is gone, those who made offerings by way of cheques are encourage to reissue them, as the perpetrators will not be able to cash them.  E-offerings remain the safest, most secure way to give.  E-offerings also provide a way to assure a regularity of financial support for Cathedral ministry for those who have chosen to make it a priority.

Many will remember the 2005 Cathedral Photo Directory. A directory is a useful tool to bring the family of God together as we come to know one another more fully. In 2005, Universal Studios was chosen to facilitate its creation. Once again, Universal will help us become closer. Its a win/win as they have the opportunity to market portraits to those who wish to purchase them while every participant receives a free directory.

This message was sent to the congregation outlining the details:

Universal Portrait Studios has been engaged to produce a Church Directory for Christ Church Cathedral. Over the next two weeks, if they haven’t heard from you first, they will contact the congregation to set up photo appointments beginning September 27th and running through to October 1st.

It has been several years since our last directory was published and based on feedback from that time, we have decided to include contact information for those who wish. You will be given the option to have photo, name(s) and contact information or just photo and name(s). Many members felt that the Directory would prove a more useful tool if contact information was included. All congregation members will receive a copy of the Directory. And, of course, portraits will be available for purchase if desired.

A sample of photos and Directory content has been placed at the back of the Cathedral. In addition, the Sunday Bulletin for September 11th will include a bookmark from Universal which provides some relevant information, including convenient ways to make an appointment by toll free phone: 1-888-769-7339 or by BOOKING ONLINE.

We encourage you to participate and look forward to having this updated communication tool available to everyone!

Gail MacGillvary
Cathedral Communications Committee

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