BEFORE STARTING TO READ THIS NEWSLETTER, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE “VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE” (OR SIMILAR MESSAGE) AND CLICK ON IT. THIS WILL OPEN THE CHRONICLE ON YOUR DEFAULT BROWSER AND WILL ENSURE THAT YOU DO NOT MISS ANYTHING.

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!

We’re delighted to welcome two new members to our office team! Please join us in greeting Kaka and Angela, who bring a wealth of experience and fresh energy to our work. We’re excited to have them on board and look forward to the many ways they’ll contribute to our shared mission.

Kaka is our new Office Assistant. She is in the office on weekday afternoons, except Thursdays, and is responsible for the weekly Sunday bulletin and the Connection Cards.

Angela is our new Administrative Assistant. Her primary responsibilities include reception, the weekly Chronicle, membership updates, assisting with social media, compiling statistical data for the Diocesan annual report, and providing administrative support for weddings, funerals, and baptisms. Angela is in the office from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday.

If you need administrative support for anything not listed above, please reach out to Kathy.

The Children's Ministry wants to invite kids in our congregation who want to serve our neighbours to join us on Sunday, June 22. We will make care packages for the Cathedral's Maundy Cafe guests to offer our love and care. The care packages will be given to the Maundy Cafe guests during the Maundy mealtimes. This will take the place of our Godly Play time. 

Parents are invited to drop kids (aged 2-3+) off in the Park Room. Kids will rejoin their families for communion. 

"Yours are the eyes with which [Christ] looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world." - St. Teresa of Avila

General Synod made June 21st, or the Sunday closest to it, the National Indigenous Day of Prayer. This is a day when we honour the cultures, traditions, and gifts of Indigenous peoples in the church and across the land known as Canada.

At this 40-min forum, Rev. Areeta will lead an exploration of the First Nations Version of the New Testament. We will look at the process that was used to create it and critiques of this project. We will do a bible study on the New Testament readings assigned for the day, which is also what we'll be hearing at the Eucharistic services that Sunday. 

Please note that incense is used at the Sunday 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. services.

We ask that anyone who may be affected by its use consider attending either the 8:00 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. services.

Christ Church Cathedral’s labyrinth will be available for all visitors to make a pilgrimage without going very far from home. It is an opportunity to pausefor a short time to journey to your spiritual centre, to experience the practice of reflective walking. We invite people of all faiths and spiritual disciplines to experience a time for centering, contemplation, reflection and meditation.

Christ Church Cathedral’s labyrinth will be open this month from Monday, June 16th to Friday, June 20th, from 10am to 4pm. A special evening event, “Music of the Labyrinth”, will take place on Friday, June 20th, featuring a young Guzheng musician Barrett Bai, who will accompany “pilgrims” on their journey, in the serene setting of Christ Church Cathedral’s sanctuary. Music begins at 7:30pm.

Event: Music of the Labyrinth
Date: Friday, June 20th, 2025
Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Location: Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard Street (at Georgia)
Admission: By Donation

Jenn Ashton is the Indigenous Cultural Sensitivity Leader at St. Clement's, where the beloved Rev. Helen Dunn (previously Vicar at Christ Church Cathedral), serves as Rector. We have received Jenn's permission to share the resources she has created for this ministry.

One resource I am sharing with you is a video message from Dr. Ray Aldred with some thoughts on how we might honour Indigenous History Month, and another is the message from Jenn to the St. Clement's congregation that I've added below.

You can learn more about Jenn and her work on the St. Clement's website. 

---

My name is Jenn Ashton, and I am from Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) First Nation. I'm a parishioner at St. Clement's, on the Parish Council, and currently Discerning for the Diaconate. I am also the Indigenous Cultural Sensitivity Leader.

The work of decolonizing is filled with hard questions and many unknowns as we move forward to delivering on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action. 

It is with these guides in mind that we came up with ...

Pastoral care at the Cathedral is thriving; things are on track and moving forward!

Last year on April 21, 2024 the newly commissioned Pastoral Care Team, under the leadership of Rev. Areeta, was officially blessed. There were 6 people initially in the group. A year later, the number of members of our team has doubled! 

We make Eucharistic visits to mobility-challenged congregants in homes or care facilities. We lead a short communion service with Bible readings and prayers and end with a social visit. These visits generally last between 60-75 minutes.

When asked why she is part of our team, one member said ...

Sadly, again this year, wildfires are ravaging vast areas across this country. Currently, 200 fires are burning in Canada. They are spreading throughout the country in different areas at various times, affecting wide swaths of forested land. Zombie or overwintering fires may still be burning underground and re-ignite once the weather becomes warm.

While many fires are started by lightning strikes or by human hands, climate change is truly the big culprit. The wildfire season starts earlier and earlier each year, and we not only lose massive amounts of trees, but people are losing their homes, their livelihoods, their health, and their peace of mind. Air quality can become so bad, making it dangerous at times to go outside and breathe the smoke-filled, polluted air.

There has been tragic loss of life due to wildfires. Residents, firefighters, and wildlife. Wildlife is further endangered as they lose their habitat, water and food sources.

Loss of forests also contributes to the destruction of entire ecosystems. A vicious circle is made more evident: fires are often caused by climate change, and fires contribute to climate change.

Below are two prayers from the British Columbia Synod – ELCIC website (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada) below that could give us comfort.

O God, our refuge and strength, our help in times of trouble.
We lift our prayers to you now that your creation is suffering.
Have mercy on the lands ravaged by fires.
Calm the winds that fan the flames and send rain to the parched lands.
Comfort all who have had to leave their homes; give them solace as they wait for news.
Give peace to those under evacuation alerts.
Bless all those who help and support the evacuees.
Protect all those who are fighting the fires and keep them safe in difficult circumstances.
Protect all whose health is at risk because of the smoke.
Heal the people, heal the nature, and heal the land.
God, in your unending mercy, we ask you to hear our prayers.
Amen.

A prayer from All Creation Sings:

Holy God, in you alone we find safety and shelter.
Be a sure refuge to all suffering from wildfires.
Grant courage, protection, and favorable weather to firefighters and emergency responders; embrace with supportive communities all who are newly displaced or homeless; comfort those grieving all that has been destroyed and give patience to those who are anxious, not knowing when relief will come.
Heal your whole creation, that out of flame and ashes new growth will spring forth.
We pray through Jesus Christ, our life, and our strength.
Amen. 

Do you like baking cookies or finding those special ones that satisfy you on the first bite? The Cookie Ministry at Christ Church Cathedral is looking to double the number of cookies available each Sunday by inviting MORE OF US to offer to bring them. You can choose to bring them every second month for 6 months or less frequently, whatever works best for you.

If you are interested in having your name on our Jul. to Dec. 2025 schedule, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator for the Cathedral via a message at (604) 682-3848 or send an email to volunteer@thecathedral.ca OR you can email Julie Bauming, the Cookie Ministry Coordinator, at juliebauming@shaw.ca or phone (604) 986-5389 as soon as possible / before the end of June. Thank you for considering this opportunity.

Vancouver School of Theology is pleased to announce its plans for July Summer School programming. Most courses will be taught in hybrid form, in-person classrooms and virtual Zoom classrooms. Classes will be taught synchronously only.

Vancouver School of Theology has been utilizing Zoom with great success for its growing number of distance students, and is pleased to extend this opportunity to its Summer School participants. To participate via Zoom, please register using course codes that end with ‘D’.

Part of the music this coming Sunday morning will be the Te Deum in B-flat by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). We rarely have the opportunity to hear a Te Deum at the cathedral these days as the 10:30am service is invariably a celebration of communion rather than Morning Prayer (Matins) with which the hymn is associated. However, given the trinitarian nature of its text a Te Deum is entirely appropriate for Trinity Sunday.

This particular setting has a long and storied history. Stanford wrote it in 1879 while organist and director of music at Trinity College, Cambridge. It is part of his Morning, Communion, and Evening Service in B-flat major, Opus 10 which consists of music for each of the principal Anglican services; last March the choir sang the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from this set as part of the evensong marking the 100th anniversary of Stanford’s death. The Te Deum was chosen as part of the music for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, for which Stanford orchestrated the original organ part and added the short introduction at the beginning; coincidentally(?) later in 1902 Stanford was knighted for his services to music. (Edward VII was the monarch who gave his name to Kingsway and King Edward Avenue in Vancouver; another piece commissioned for the coronation was Parry’s I Was Glad, heard at many a royal service since. And one attendee at the coronation in Westminster Abbey was Vancouver musician Frederick Dyke, who had been serving as choirmaster at Holy Rosary; his leave of absence was so long he lost that position, but instead took up similar duties at Christ Church.)

Stanford’s Te Deum in B-flat became a particular favourite at Christ Church; apart from “normal” services ...

Morning Prayer on Zoom | Monday to Friday | 9:30am to 10:00am

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.

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.

St. Brigid’s Eucharist | 1:30 p.m.

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

Compline | 8:00 p.m.

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 Prayer Link at prayerlink@thecathedral.ca to have their name added to the list.