Category Archives: Events

Trinity Institute Conference 2012

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Radical Christian Life:
Equipping Ourselves for Social Change

Friday evening December 7
to Sunday afternoon, December 9

Trinity Institute’s 42nd National Theological Conference, Radical Christian Life: Equipping Ourselves for Social Change, will be held December 7-9, 2012 via webcast conference at St. John’sAnglican Cathedral.

Joan Chittister, OSB will offer tools for making the vital connection between contemplation and social action. She will be supported by workshop leaders including theologians, spiritual directors, and activists. Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, author, teacher, and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, will preach at the conference Eucharist.

Our task is now to be radical Christian communities in the here and now, not fossils of a bygone reality, not leftovers from an earlier golden age. Now we need new wisdom and a new kind of struggle to determine what we must be and do in the midst of these changing times.

Through plenary addresses, creative work sessions, and worship, this three-day conference we will explore questions such as:

  • How can our Christian traditions of social justice and contemplation energize our communities as forces for positive change in the world around us?
  • What practices help us to discern where we are called to engage?
  • Where may we find sources of creativity and resilience within our tradition?
  • How can we work in partnership with those of other faiths and no faith as we follow God’s call?

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Dates to Remember

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Saturday, October 13
Parish Visioning Day, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 18
Opening Service of Diocesan Synod.

Tuesday, November 13
the Neil Bardal Concert Series will present a special concert in memory of Bishop Patrick and Mary Lee with proceeds going to support the Kalagali/Fisher Branch School in Uganda.

Cathedral Chronicle

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Dates to Remember

Tuesday, September 11
The S.M.A.R.T. exercise program for seniors
resumes at 10:00 a.m. in the John West Hall

Wednesday, September 12
Vestry, 6:00 p.m. potluck supper and table Eucharist;
meeting to begin at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, September 13
Friendship Circle, noon to 3:00 p.m.
Ordination of Michael Bruce, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, September 23
The Dean’s Forum: Dusting off the Bible gets underway at 9:15 a.m.,
and will be held every Sunday.

Saturday, October 13
Parish Visioning Day, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 18
Opening Service of Diocesan Synod.

Tuesday, November 13
the Neil Bardal Concert Series will present a special concert in memory of Bishop Patrick and Mary Lee with proceeds going to support the Kalagali/Fisher Branch School in Uganda.

Details

Dusting off the Bible…
Through conversation and by consensus at the early service, we will no longer say together The Great Litany before the Said Eucharist.  Starting on Sunday, September 23, Said Eucharist will move from 8:30 to 8:00 a.m.  At 9:15 a.m. on that Sunday we’ll begin The Dean’s Forum, which will conclude at 10:05 a.m.  The Sung Eucharist, with choir, will begin as usual at 10:30 a.m. Some of the titles for our ‘dusting’ until Christmas: You want me to do what?  (Abraham), God’s technicolour dream  (Joseph), Journey to the Inner Limits  (Ecclesiastes, Job… Struggling with the painful questions), A dragon slouching toward Bethlehem (Hope for the future)

Bible Study…
The Friday morning Bible study group resumes on Friday, September 14, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The Thursday evening Bible study, which meets from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., will resume later in September. Watch this space for the date. And don’t forget The Dean’s Forum: Dusting off the Bible on Sunday mornings from 9:15 to 10:05, starting September 23.

From Dreaming to Planning…
At its June meeting Vestry set the date for the Parish Visioning Day and it will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 13. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this important day in the life of the Cathedral. It is important to hear from as many members of the congregation as possible as we set the course for the Cathedral over the next few years.

Choir News…
In an effort to strengthen the choir in its ministry, I am taking the time this fall to interview and audition individual choristers. In the course of these discussions, I hope to solidify my understanding of members’ voices and their visions for the role of the choir, both for themselves and for our ministry to our faith community and in the Diocese. Also, from a very practical perspective we will seek to find a rehearsal schedule that fits members’ busy lives. Once these interviews have taken place, the choir will be formed.

Existing choir members will be contacted to set up their appointments. Anyone else who would like to explore the possibility of joining us should contact me by leaving a voice mail at 204-586-8385-ext 13, by calling me at home 204-942-9250, or by sending an e-mail to packham1@yahoo.com

Friendship Circle…
The Friendship Circle begins its weekly meetings this coming Thursday, with a brown-bag lunch at noon. It is a time for the women of the parish to come together to knit prayer shawls, pray together and be a sisterhood in Christ. Each meeting ends at 3:00 p.m.  All are welcome. Please talk to Bunny McCormick for more information.

Exploring the Enneagram…
The ‘Growing Towards God’ series started by Nancy Phillips,  continues with a five session course called ‘Inner Transformation Through the Enneagram’. Janelle Schneider will be the facilitator. The course is offered on the second Tuesday of each month, from September 11 to December 11, and each session runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  You may want to come at 6:00 p.m. to enjoy the optional brown bag supper with your classmates (bring your own brown bag!). For more information about the Enneagram, the course, and Jannelle Schneider, log on to the Cathedral web site at http://www.stjohnscathedral.ca

Trinity Institute Conference 2012…
After a two-year hiatus, the Trinity Institute Conference returns with a new format this November, and the Cathedral will be web casting the event once again. As yet, the Cathedral Corporation has not set the fee for attendance, so this notice is just a heads-up that the Conference will be back at the Cathedral (which was the first off-site centre to web cast the Trinity Conference in Canada!) The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Radical Christian Life: Equipping Ourselves for Social Change’. There will be only one speaker this year, but since that speaker is the gifted Sr. Joan Chittister OSB, ably assisted by a group of theologians, spiritual directors and Christian activists as workshop leaders, it will be, as always, a worthwhile event, Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks.

Many hands make light work…
Our sincere thanks to Ted Ash, Dennis Beaulieu,Tony Chen, Wallace Desmarais, Alan Firth and Brian Ford for their willing hands and gift of time to re-paint the John West Hall in time for today’s festive luncheon marking the Bicentenary of the arrival of the first group of Selkirk Settlers. Thanks, too, to Mavis Ford and Rene Jamieson for feeding the painting crew.

New ministry in the North End…
On Wednesday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m., Bishop Donald will celebrate the inauguration of the new Trinity Anglican Ministry, and will install the Rev. Liz Richens (née McKendry) and the Rev. Michael Bruce as co-incumbents of the Ministry’s component Parishes of St. Anne, St. Barnabas and St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The service will be held at St. Barnabas, 730 McPhillips Street, at 7:00 p.m.  All are welcome.

Vestry Meeting Reminder…
The September meeting of Vestry will be held on Wednesday, September 12, rather than on the third Wednesday of the month, and it will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a potluck supper and Table Eucharist.

Get out the sweats and the running shoes…
On Tuesday, September 11, the S.M.A.R.T. exercise classes will resume at 10:00 a.m. in the John West Hall. S.M.A.R.T. is a low-impact program designed by the Victorian Order of Nurses to help keep those of us with aging bones and creaking joints in good shape, and it is delivered by trained instructors (two of whom are our own Gerry and Peter Spence). If you can’t make it on Tuesday, the class is also available on Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m., in the John West Hall.

Lord Selkirk Association Church Service of Thanksgiving

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Church Service of Thanksgiving

Sunday, September 9
St. John’s Cathedral
service will start at 10:00 a.m.
Aboriginal Smudging Ceremony beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The Lord Selkirk Association has organized a Church Service of Thanksgiving commemorating the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first group of Selkirk Settlers in 1812.

The service will be a combination of Anglican and Presbyterian worship similar to the worship style of the early settlers. The original St. John’s Cathedral was where the Selkirk Settlers worshipped while they awaited the arrival of a Gaelic-speaking minister from the Presbyterian Church. Descendants of some of the original settlers will be taking an active role in the service.

Lord Selkirk will be in attendance.

A free lunch will be provided after the service (sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, dainties, etc.).
Tours of the cemetery including many significant gravesites will be offered after the church service.

Introduction to the Enneagram

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by Janelle Clare Schneider

Through the Enneagram,
we can better understand who we think we are, who we really are, and how we experience God based on both perception and reality.

St. Teresa of Avila writes in her masterpiece, The Interior Castle, “Not a little misery and confusion arise from the fact that through our own guilt we do not understand ourselves and do not know who we are … what treasures this soul may harbor within it, who dwells in it, and what great value it has, these are things we seldom consider, and hence people are so little concerned with preserving their beauty with all care.”

The Enneagram is an ancient dynamic symbol of transformation which provides us with a road map to our soul. Through familiarizing ourselves with the energies described, we can better understand who we think we are, who we really are, and how we experience God based on both perception and reality. As we see our inner beauty (and compulsions) through this symbol we then see who we really are, and can “preserve our beauty with all care.”

Richard Rohr puts it this way–“The Enneagram has emerged as a tool that is forcing many of us to a brutal and converting honesty about good and evil and the ways that we hide from ourselves and therefore hide from God.” (Preface, The Enneagram A Christian Perspective)

We begin our study of this symbol by discerning our own place on it. This truly is a discernment process, and not one of labelling or “pigeon-holing”. No one else can tell you “what your number is”. In the early stages of discovery, even you will likely be uncertain as to where you fit. That is not only okay; it’s to be expected! However, as you continue to experience life in the illumination of the Enneagram, you’ll begin to experience a “fit” with particular energies or “spaces”, which will then provide insight into how you interact with life and with God.

Our first session, on September 10, 2012, will discuss the three “centres”–head, heart and gut. Each of us lives out of one of these centres, usually to the exclusion of the other two. Each of these relates to three numbers on the Enneagram, thus helping a person narrow down which energy is dominant in his/her life.

On Ocober 9, 2012, we’ll discuss each of the numbers (also referred to as “energies” or “spaces”) in more detail. Our November session will introduce you to the roadmap for spiritual transformation which is hidden in the symbol, and in December we’ll explore how the energies all interact to create the unique person that is you.

Join us…

Inner Transformation through the Enneagram

September 11, 2012 – December 11, 2012
Second Tuesday of the month
from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Brown Bag Supper at 6:00 pm  (optional)

A Growing towards God Series

Dates to remember…

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Thursday, August 30

RCCO recital series at All Saints’, Broadway at Osborne, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.

Wednesday and Thursday, September 4 and 5

Repainting the John West Hall. Lunch will be served both days.

Sunday, September 9

Service of Thanksgiving commemorating the Bicentenary of the Red River Settlement and the arrival of the Selkirk Settlers in Rupert’s Land. The service will be at 10:00 a.m. instead of the usual 10:30 a.m. Keep in mind that there will be no Great Litany or 8:30 a.m. Eucharist on September 9.

Thursday, September 13

Ordination of Michael Bruce.

Saturday, October 13

Parish Visioning Day

Thursday, October 18

Opening Service of Diocesan Synod.

Tuesday, November 13

The Neil Bardal Concert Series will present a special concert in memory of Bishop Patrick with proceeds going to support the Kalagali/Fisher Branch School in Uganda.