The Rev. Dr. Sam Wells — Sunday, October 4

The Rev. Dr. Sam Wells will be our guest preacher on Sunday, October 4, 2026, at both the 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Eucharists. Sam is the Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, located on Trafalgar Square in London, and is widely known as a theologian, author, and speaker on Christian discipleship, formation, and the life of the Church.

We will be celebrating the Feast of St Francis, which also marks the conclusion of our observance of the Season of Creation.

Between the two services, Sam will speak in the Parish Hall about Being With, the formation program he has developed around the conviction that Christian faith begins not primarily with fixing or solving, but with being present to God and one another.

This is a wonderful opportunity for the Cathedral, and I hope you will join me in welcoming Sam warmly and encouraging people to take part in both worship and the conversation between services.

“Be Welcoming” Sculpture

The sculpture Be Welcoming, by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, has arrived in Vancouver and is now with the installer. The work is a visual interpretation of Hebrews 13:2: “Be welcoming to strangers; many have entertained angels unawares.”

The sculpture brings this passage to life through the figure of a stranger who gradually transforms into an angel, inviting us to consider how we encounter the stranger, the newcomer, and those whom we might otherwise overlook.

Installation at the Cathedral is expected to take place within the next few weeks. Once the installation is complete, we will announce plans for a formal dedication and blessing of the sculpture. Please keep an eye out for further details.

Park Place Arbitration

The final witness examination in the Park Place arbitration took place this week, marking an important milestone in what has been a lengthy process. Final arguments are due at the end of October, after which the arbitrators will consider the submissions and render their decision.

We will continue to keep you informed as the arbitration moves toward its conclusion.

Assistant Director of Music

Our search for a new Assistant Director of Music is progressing very well. Neil and I have now interviewed four outstanding semi-finalists, and we have narrowed the search to two finalists. Neil, Mark Halyk, and I will be meeting with the finalists shortly as we move toward completing the process.

This is an important appointment for the Cathedral and represents a significant investment in the next chapter of our musical life. The new Assistant Director will work closely with Neil in the musical leadership of our worship, choirs and wider programme, sharing in organ playing, choral direction and the development of new musical initiatives.

The position will also help provide the additional capacity we need as our musical programme continues to grow, including the development of Sung Evening Prayer, music at our French-language Eucharist, and future possibilities involving children and youth, choral scholars, concerts, recordings, commissions and partnerships with Vancouver’s wider musical community.

We have been very encouraged by the quality of the candidates and by the interest the position has attracted. It is exciting to see this search moving into its final stage and to think about the additional artistic and liturgical possibilities this appointment will open for the Cathedral.

Ministry Chaplains

I want to let you know of a small but important change in how we are organizing our clergy ministry at the Cathedral.

Effective immediately, I am ending my practice over the past four years of assigning individual clergy as chaplains to particular Cathedral ministries and groups. These chaplaincies have served us well and have been important in strengthening relationships between our clergy and the various communities within the Cathedral. I am grateful for the care, presence, and leadership each of you has offered in these roles.

As our ministry has developed, however, I believe we have reached a point where our clergy time and energy need to be focused more intentionally on our primary areas of responsibility and on the emerging priorities before us. This change is intended to give each of you greater capacity to do that work well.

This does not mean stepping away from relationships with these groups. Rather, I hope all of us will continue to know, support, and participate in the life of the whole Cathedral community without carrying a particular chaplaincy assignment.

Going forward, individuals and groups needing clergy support should approach the clergy team according to the particular need rather than looking to an assigned chaplain. This will allow us to draw on the gifts and areas of responsibility of the whole team, while ensuring that groups continue to have access to pastoral, liturgical, and theological support when it is needed.

Trustees & Parish Council Minutes

As part of our commitment to keeping the Cathedral community informed about the work of our governance bodies, the most recently approved minutes of both Parish Council and the Trustees are posted on the bulletin board next to the men’s washroom.

Live Translation

Our Live Translation service continues to be used each Sunday and is proving to be a valuable part of making Cathedral worship more accessible to the increasingly diverse community that gathers here.

Recent Sundays have seen people accessing translation in Persian, French, Korean, Mandarin, and English, among other languages. It is encouraging to see this technology helping people participate more fully in our worship across language barriers, and we will continue to monitor its use and development.