A Message from the Cathedral CATS Team

Greetings and welcome to our very first blog entry.

As parishioners of Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Vancouver, we are inspired by the magnificence of God’s creation, oriented towards love, and mindful of our role in protecting this sacred planet, its diverse peoples and all creatures.

As such, we have formed (February 2022) a ministry called Cathedral CATS - Climate Action Through Stewarding. Our focus is to work at the individual and institutional levels to reduce our impact on the earth. We are excited to share this journey of learning, community strengthening and environmental stewardship with you. Some early examples of our work are - installing: LED lights, new heat pumps and a more efficient cooling system in our building; reducing paper use; finding options for parishioners to car pool, use transit or cycle to church; and more.

In our early formation, we have been moved to appreciate how “The Spirit moves through communion. By connecting with the essence of the earth, ourselves and all creatures, we can better understand the interdependence and cooperation of life. All life is bound through seven generations before and after itself. How do our choices impact those generations - human, mycelium, chickadees, glaciers, salmon, cedar? What if we are the answer to earth’s prayers? What if our BE-ing is the prayer? What if our ancestors prayed us into our existence, just as we are?

Knowing that we are enough to do our part, how will we live our lives as an answer to
the prayers of the earth and those who come seven generations from now?”

Come join us.

Sondra Marshall and the Cathedral CATS team

Adapted from: geez, “The Prayers of the Earth and Those Who Come Seven
Generations from Now”, Fall 2022, Issue #6,