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If you wish to see something published in this newsletter, please either fill out the Communication Request Form (click to be redirected to the Cathedral website) or email your edited and proofed text to newsletters@thecathedral.ca by Tuesday at Noon. If you have any questions, please email us at newsletters@thecathedral.ca.

Please note that these are the only two communication channels used in the creation of this newsletter.

If you attend in person on Sundays, a special parking rate is available at the Park Place Parkade. The parking code for 2025 is 20254630. Rate details are available here.

You can watch past live-streamed services on our YouTube channel — click to watch the ones you missed or rewatch the ones you enjoyed!

Below are highlights presented at Vestry by Jennifer Barr about the development of a Strategic Plan for the Cathedral. With God’s will, we will draw on the strength and work of our past, incorporate the opportunities around us and fulfill our hopes and dreams for what we wish our future to be!

A Steering Committee was struck late in 2024 and we have developed a timeline for a process with multiple opportunities for input by our Cathedral community. All work is being conducted by volunteers. If you would like to get involved, please let us know.

2025
Feb: Introduction at Vestry
March: Launch a Census. This will provide an up-to-date profile of our community as a whole as well as the various congregations

April: Analysis of Census, launch a “Future Outlook Survey” to obtain your input on our future

May – June: Analysis of the Future Outlook Survey with a presentation of high-level results; conduct Listening Circles for further input

July-Sept: Draft strategy/plan

Oct-Nov: Present draft strategy/plan & conduct listening circles for feedback

2026
Presentation to Vestry: Strategic Plan and aligned budget

The Census addresses:
• Where we currently live
• Where we come from (think ancestry and cultural heritage)
• Our demographics, life stage and socio-economic indicators
• And our Cathedral volunteerism

We are aiming for full participation in the Census. It is an online survey to be launched mid-March. There will be “Helpers” at each Worship Service (8 am, 10.30 am and St Brigid’s) to assist anyone who needs help. If you know of anyone who may have language or technology issues, please tell them to approach one of the Helpers, a Committee member or Trustee so that we can arrange a respectful way to obtain their information.

Lent begins in the wilderness. Not as punishment, but as preparation. The Spirit leads Jesus there—not the devil, not circumstance, but the Spirit itself. This is a holy journey, not an accidental detour.

In the Orthodox tradition, the wilderness is not a place of abandonment but a place of encounter. It is where the distractions of the world are stripped away, where the noise of our egos is silenced, and where we finally begin to hear the voice of God in the depths of our souls. The desert fathers and mothers sought the wilderness because they knew that within it, they would wrestle with themselves, with their temptations, and ultimately, with the Living God.

Lent as a Journey of the Heart

In our modern lives, the wilderness is not found in the Judean desert but in the quiet spaces we rarely allow ourselves to enter. The Orthodox mystical tradition speaks of the “prayer of the heart”—that deep, interior stillness where we encounter Christ not as an idea, but as a Presence. The Jesus Prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”—becomes a pathway into that stillness. It is not about shame or self-condemnation but about surrender. It is about stepping into the truth of who we are before God, as Christ did in the wilderness.

This Lent, what would it mean for you to enter the wilderness? Not as a season of mere deprivation—giving up chocolate or social media—but as a time of stripping away illusions, of opening yourself to the refining fire of God’s love.

Temptation and Transformation

The temptations Jesus faces are not just his—they are ours. ...

Join Rev. Areeta and parishioner, Liz McCausland, to celebrate and learn more about women in the Christian tradition in this multi-part series to celebrate women’s history month. All are welcome! 

Upcoming forums: 

Sun March 16 (9.15am): Join parishioner, Liz McCausland, and Dean Chris to explore the work and thought of contemporary Anglican priest, philosopher and theologian, Sarah Coakley. Dr. Coakley's work is wide-ranging, including reflections on the theology of the body and mysticism. 

Sun March 28 (9.15am): Join parishioner, Liz McCausland, and Rev. Areeta to explore various women's contributions to prayer and spirituality. 

Previous forums in the series: 

[...]

This week's Sundays@4 series features a Taizé service, sung by a small ensemble.

All are welcome to join us in-person at the Cathedral. Please note that a livestream is not available for this service.

The full Sundays@4 service schedule is available here.

~ Lauren Artress, founder of Veriditas

To usher in Spring, Christ Church Cathedral’s labyrinth will be open this month, during the week of Monday, March 17 to Friday, March 21st from 10am to 4pm. We invite people of all faiths and spiritual disciplines to experience a time for centering, contemplation, reflection and meditation.

A special evening event, “Music of the Labyrinth”, will take place on Friday, March 21^st, featuring Vancouver cellist-singer Byron Hanson, who, with looped cello and voice based on and inspired by plainchant, will be accompanying “pilgrims” as they journey in the serene setting of Christ Church Cathedral’s sanctuary. Music begins at 7:30pm.

Event:        Music of the Labyrinth

Date:          Friday, March 21^st, 2025

Time:         7:30pm – 9:00pm

Location:    Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard Street (at Georgia)

Admission: By Donation

It has been said that “God behaves in the psalms in ways that God is not allowed to behave in theology” (Sebastian Moore, OSB). This Lent encounter God in the Book of the Psalms. Claude St-Denis will be leading an exploration of the Psalms: an exploration of the Psalms as scripture and an exploration of the Psalms as prayer. 

Join us online on Tuesday evenings in Lent (from March 11- April 8, 2025), from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. (zoom room opens at 7:15 p.m.). 

If you have any questions, please call the office and we will connect you with Claude St-Denis. 

Healing Touch, in person, is available for members of  Christ Church Cathedral. The next in-person Healing Touch offering will be Sunday, 16 March 2025.

Four sessions are offered in total: at 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. before the service; AND at 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. after the service.

To register for a session please email the office at healingtouch@thecathedral.ca to request a time. State “Healing Touch In Person” in the subject line. All requests from parishioners will be considered, and confirmation emails sent by March 14th.

If you would like more information about Healing Touch, there are brochures on the rack outside the office.

Are you looking for a way to deepen your spiritual life? Every weekday morning at 9:30am the Cathedral holds Morning Prayer.

We will follow a simple liturgy with a Psalm, a Reading, Prayer and Silence. This form of regular, daily prayer is used in the Anglican Communion and a number of other church denominations. All are welcome to start the day in prayer with us.

Morning Prayer takes place online via Zoom. To join in, please email Morning Prayer for Zoom coordinates.

Reverend Areeta will be away from March 16 to 22nd.

Dean Chris will be on his annual lenten retreat from March 18 to 25th.

We are delighted to announce a number of new opportunities to sing in a choir or vocal group at the Cathedral, including some that are suited to those with little or no previous choral experience. We now have five choral groups, including a Taizé Choir, the St Brigid's Choir, and of course our beloved Cathedral Choir.

Each group has a different time commitment: the Cathedral Choir meets twice a week or more (and as often as daily during Holy Week); the other choirs have lighter schedules so they may be easier to fit within your routine.

Further information on each of the groups (and how to join) is given on our website.

Come and sing!

After returning to Vancouver and moving into an Independent Senior Living facility, I became horrified at the amount of flexible plastic that was used and then tossed into the garbage cans making its way into landfill and the oceans where it would have long and devastating effects on the environment and marine life.

I began by ...

Volunteering is a wonderful way of deepening your connection with members of our Cathedral Community. Please consider the following opportunities to share your gift of time:

NARTHEX GREETERS - become a part of the weekday team that welcomes visitors from around the world and those who are seeking a prayerful place to connect with the divine.

ALTAR GUILD - members of this ministry have the sacred task of preparing the Cathedral for worship.

If you are interested in finding out more about these ministries, please call the office at 604-382-3848 ext. 100, and we will connect you with the ministry leader.

Join us to celebrate Lent - the preparation season for Easter. This is our third in a series of joint child-centred worship events with St. Andrew's Wesley United Church. 

The service will begin at 3.30pm with gathering for singing and story and then move into creative response centres followed by worship and then supper. We look forward to seeing you there! 

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Parking: There is parking available with a parking pass in St. Andrew's underground parkade. St. Andrew's will have them available when people come into the sanctuary. Please park on P2B or P3A for the passes to be honored.

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For more information, please contact the Rev. Areeta Bridgemohan: areeta@thecathedral.ca | ext. 127.

To RSVP, please email signup@standrewswesley.com

If you are a young-ish adult (however you define it) attending the Cathedral, join us for a coffee/tea and some treats on Sunday March 30th at 12 p.m. in the Park Room (downstairs - if you don't know where that is, please ask a greeter or a friendly face). We'll connect with one another, and share a little bit about our faith journeys.

No registration required, just show up!

Starting on Sun April 6th, during the 10.30am service, we will be slowly starting our children's Sunday school program again. On the first Sunday of the next three months, children are invited to come downstairs, following a prayer in the service, for a Godly Play* lesson. They will come back upstairs and rejoin their parents for communion. 

*Godly Play is a Montessori-informed approach that nurtures children's spirituality as they engage with the stories and sacraments of the church. It was developed by Dr. Jerome Berryman, an American Anglican priest. 

On April 14, 2016, BC declared a public health emergency about the number of opioid-related deaths. At that time the rate of overdose deaths was 20.4 per 100,000 people. In 2023, the rate of overdose deaths was 45.7 per 100,000. Thousands of our family members, friends and neighbours have died. And we are grieving their loss.

On Sunday April 13, 2025 at 4 pm, a Remembrance Service ...

Join Dean Christopher Pappas, the Cathedral’s Representative to Sorrento Centre Jane Dittrich, the Rev. Clare Morgan, and programming course leader the Rev. Canon Dr. Harold Munn for Christ Church Cathedral’s 2025 week at Sorrento Centre, July 20-26th!

Mark your calendars, contact Sorrento Centre (https://sorrentocentre.ca/) for booking information, and stay tuned in the coming weeks for full details!  

-Jane Dittrich

Upper Zoom Bible Study of Sunday Readings | Thursdays | 7:15 p.m.

Fellowship for Parishioners of African Descent | Last Saturday of each month | 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Eat, Pray, Love: an all-ages Lenten gathering | Saturday, March 29, 2025 | 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

1st Sundays Godly Play | April 6 | 10:30 a.m.

The Cathedral office is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Staff contact information is available here. 

REGULAR SUNDAY SERVICES

Holy Communion | 8:00 a.m.

Choral Eucharist | 10:30 a.m.

Eucharist with St. Brigid’s | 1:30 p.m.

Sundays@4 Choral Service | 4:00 p.m.

Compline | 8:00 p.m.
(to resume on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025)

WEEKDAY SERVICES

Holy Eucharist | Monday—Friday
12:15 p.m.

Holy Eucharist | Thursday
7:30 a.m. (with breakfast following)

Rite of Reconciliation (Confession) | 4th Wednesday
11:00 a.m.—Noon

Healing Prayers & Anointing | Wednesday
Following the 12:15 p.m. Eucharist

ONLINE

If you wish to worship with us online, click on the button below.

Those seeking prayers for themselves or others may email the Cathedral PrayerLink at prayerlink@thecathedral.ca to have their name added to the list.