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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!

The clocks "spring forward" this Sunday.

If you're old-school like some of us here in the office, this is your reminder to set your clocks forward an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.

The Cathedral will be closed on March 11 (Tuesday) and 12 (Wednesday) to allow for mandatory staff training. Regular hours will resume on Thursday, March 13.

Thank you for your understanding!

Lent 2025 is upon us, begining on Wednesday March 5 (Ash Wednesday) and coninuing until Saturday April 19 (Holy Saturday). 

Lent, in the Anglican tradition, is a season of reflection, repentance, and renewal—a sacred journey of forty days mirroring Christ’s time in the wilderness. It is not merely a time of giving things up but of taking on practices that draw us closer to God. One powerful way to observe Lent is by crafting a Rule of Life, a structured yet flexible framework for spiritual growth. Rooted in the wisdom of monastic traditions, a Rule of Life helps us cultivate habits of prayer, study, service, and self-discipline, shaping our daily rhythms around God’s presence. Rather than a rigid set of rules, it is a guide that aligns our lives with Christ’s call to love God and neighbor. In this season of self-examination, a Rule of Life can help us deepen our faith, not just for Lent but as a foundation for lifelong discipleship.

To that end I am offering you the following Lenten Rule of Life for Lent 2025.

Grab a coffee/tea and cookies to join Spiritual care provider, Georgia Omwa, as she shares some of her rich experiences of being a woman in ministry. Georgia has a Master's in Theological Studies from Regent College. She is originally from Uganda, studied in Kenya and is married to a Kenyan Anglican priest. Georgia now works in Vancouver providing spiritual care at two Providence Living care facilities. 

** Please note: this 40-min forum will be held following the service on this day when we Spring Forward!**

Choral Evensong will be sung by the Cathedral Choir at 4pm on the first Sunday of Lent (March 9) to launch our new series of Sundays@4 services.

Introit: Kristina Rizzotto (b. 1989) Oculi Mei
Preces and Responses: Richard Ayleward (1626-69)
Psalm 103
Canticles: William Byrd (c.1540-1623) The Second Service
Anthem: Maurice Greene (1696-1755) Lord, let me know mine end

All are welcome to join us for this beloved and traditional Anglican choral service.

The Cathedral Choir
Neil Cockburn, Director of Music
Byron Hanson, Cello

The full Sundays@4 service schedule is available here.

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 reach out to 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.

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 web site.

Come and sing!

The Lenten theme for Climate Action Through Stewarding (CATS) ministry is:

Reduce Consumption - Turn Down the Heat!

Visit our ‘reduction’ thermometer during Lenten Sunday coffee hours and symbolically turn down the heat by identifying personal actions you will take. Examples of actions that will reduce your carbon footprint will be available at coffee hour. See you there!

Do you have a weekday morning (10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) or afternoon (1:00 to 4:00 p.m.) with free time to come to the Cathedral and volunteer at the office reception desk? Duties vary and always include answering the telephone and welcoming guests who pop in.

Computer skills and a pleasant voice to connect with those who call are important assets. You will take direction from our office staff who train the volunteers and all the information you need is close at hand.

There is a “Volunteer Application Form” on the Cathedral’s website to complete. Our Volunteer Coordinator will contact you to complete the process.

It is one of the highlights of the week, knowing you are serving God using a gift of hospitality to live out our “open doors, open hearts, open minds.”

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. Please reach out to Sarah Nation if you are curious to find out more.

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 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. 

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 4pm 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! 

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.

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

To RSVP, please email signup@standrewswesley.com

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

Early in his Gospel, St Matthew traces the descent of Joseph, our Lord’s adoptive father, from Abraham, while St Luke in his Gospel traces it back through Abraham to Adam.  Their two genealogical lists are not in complete accord with each other, making them a subject of continual debate among theologians, but including them in the narrative was clearly important to both evangelists. 

The discordance between the two lists need hardly surprise us.  Consider our own situation. 

Eat, Pray, Love: an all-ages Lenten gathering | Saturday, March 29, 2025 | 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Cathedral Week at Sorrento Centre | July 20 — July 26, 2025

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.