A Message from the Dean & Wardens (August 13)

ONE “MAN” BAND

Unless you count “Jingle Bells” on the recorder, I don’t play a musical instrument. And yet, here I find myself a one man band! I can see in my mind the picture of such a person, practically surrounded by various instruments and oompahpahing through it all. As I carry the load of three clergy, Diocesan responsibilities, re-opening and trying to rebuild a Cathedral community that is in deep transition, I feel grateful. Why? Because so many of you have told me you are praying for me and the Cathedral. So many of you are stepping up to the plate in terms of offering yourselves for ministry and/or increasing your donations. So many of you are being patient and understanding with me and about the situation we are in. Thank you. You are a blessing to me and to this place. I am also deeply grateful to the Wardens, Support Clergy, Staff and Volunteers who make St. James Cathedral such a lovely expression of God’s Reign.

I am delighted to announce that Claire Latimer Dennis will be joining our Ministry Team on September 1. A biography of Claire will follow but let me say I know she will be a real blessing to us. Until her ordination in May 2021, when she will become our Assistant Curate, Claire will function as a Pastoral Associate. Please prepare to welcome her on September 13 when we finally get to worship Christ as His gathered Body.

Dean Stephen+

IN-PERSON WORSHIP 

We are excited that In-Person Worship is scheduled to resume on Sunday, September 13. We will provide further details about what is required for those who choose to attend once we receive the protocols from the Diocese of Toronto later this month. It is our hope to provide Sunday morning worship at 8:00am, 9:00am and 11:00am as of that date.  Evensong and weekday services will not resume until further notice.

GARDENING GROUP 

As we prepare to re-open the Cathedral Centre this fall, we will rely on rentals to help provide income. In order to make us as attractive an option as possible for renters, we are hoping a group of people will volunteer some time gardening around the Cathedral Centre. Your expertise and green thumbs would be most appreciated! To help, please contact wardens@stjamescathedral.ca.

VISIONING STEERING GROUP REQUEST TO PARISHIONERS

Members of the Visioning Steering Group have met to review the responses from the first parishioner visioning meetings and determine the next step forward in the visioning process.

Group members would like to invite parishioners who were not able to join in the Zoom meetings to participate in this part of the process by sending in their responses to the following questions:

• What is your personal best experience of ministry during Covid-19?
• What have you been doing to feed your spirit? What is new, what are you learning that you want to continue?
• What might you have taken for granted or undervalued before about St. James that you hold greater value for now? What feels superfluous?
• Given what we might have been through as the Cathedral community over the last few months, what is the greatest thing St. James has to offer people? What is our greatest asset?

Please email your responses by August 15, 2020 to wardens@stjamescathedral.ca or mail them to St. James Cathedral, 65 Church Street, Toronto, ON, M5C 2E9, Attention: Wardens.

It is hoped, as the Cathedral is planning to re-open in September, that the next step in the visioning process will be an in-person meeting at the Cathedral Centre.

As parishioners, we encourage you to participate in the visioning process as we have a new Dean, will need a new Vicar, and will be starting recovery from the negative effects of the pandemic with limited resources. In addition, the needs of our community have greatly changed around us during this last while. This is a crucial time to identify what is important to us and how we will move forward in our vocation as a Christian community, as our human, property, and financial resources allow. In many ways, we are tasked with something close to rebuilding, so much has changed.

 ST. JAMES VIRTUAL HYMN SING

Please join members of the 9:00am Parish Choir for a virtual hymn sing on Tuesday, August 18 at 7:30pm. We will meet on Zoom to sing some hymns together from the safety of your home. After an opening prayer, we intend to sing six hymns using pre-recorded videos.

For most hymns, David Simon is playing the organ at St. James Cathedral and you will see a rolling score with music and lyrics to sing along. For most videos, members of the choir are providing a vocal guide as well. Mekhriban Mamedova is also playing some of the hymns on her piano at home. We will have a very brief meditation on references to music in scripture and a time to socialize at the end. The meeting will end no later than 8:30pm.

There are two ways to obtain your Zoom invitation for the hymn sing. We created a Google form to collect your information. This is the easiest option for the organizers and can be found here. You can also request a link via email at irenecourage105@gmail.com. We intend to collect the emails at 7:00pm and send out the Zoom invitations at 7:15pm. This way the link should be close to the top of your inbox when you are connecting to us.

Many of us are missing singing together. Though you are still singing alone or with a small group at home, this is the closest way we could think of to actually sing together. Singing hymns is also a fun way to meditate on some great Christian poetry.

As you become more familiar with singing the hymns this way, we hope that some members of the congregation will join us on video by submitting a recording of their own part, singing with the accompaniment tracks we will provide.

We hope many of you will join us to sing along, just listen or to start preparing to be part of the virtual congregation on tape.

BEIRUT – How You Can Help

PWRDF (The Primate’s Fund) is the Anglican Church of Canada’s agency for sustainable relief and development, including disaster response. The Government of Canada has launched a dedicated Matching Fund for the Lebanon crisis that will double the contributions of Canadians and support the relief work of the members of Canada’s Humanitarian Coalition, including the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Through its membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, PWRDF will be participating in the Humanitarian Coalition appeal to support people of Lebanon through this crisis. The government of Canada will match every dollar donated by individuals between August 4 and August 24, up to a maximum of $2 million. Donations to PWRDF marked for the Beirut explosion emergency response will be matched.

• Please visit our online donation page at org/give-today and make your gift in Emergency Response, indicating Beirut explosion in the message box.
• Call 1-866-308-7973 toll-free (please leave a message and we will return your call), or 416-822-9083 to speak immediately with someone who can process your donation over the phone.
• Write “Beirut explosion” in the memo field of your cheque and mail to PWRDF, 80 Hayden Street, 3rd floor, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 3G2.

Please pray for all who have been affected by this disaster, for our partners in the region as they work to save lives and care for the injured, and for those who have died.

CATHEDRAL LIGHTING PROJECT: Scene setting continues

Currently, the lights are still being programmed in accordance with a schedule developed by our consultant together with clergy and staff. Programming will see various lights switched on and off and dimmed according to a pre-set schedule that reflects natural and liturgical seasons. Lighting will take into account sunrise and sunset as well as Christmas, Holy Week and Easter. Only essential lighting will be operated during the small hours of the morning.

ST. JAMES CEMETERY UPDATE 

Hillside H: We are awaiting a report from our consultant regarding the timing of the Hillside H project. Given the time needed to put this work out to tender, as well as for construction, this project will be scheduled to take place in 2021.

Crematorium: Cremations continue at the cemetery with our refurbished south retort. With respect to the retort replacement project, we are currently working with our architects on accommodating different types of equipment in our heritage space.

FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP

As we prepare to re-open the Cathedral’s doors in September, we are exceedingly grateful to those of you who continue to support us financially. Donations have become our main source of income, as events have momentarily ceased, investment income is down, and the cemetery is slowly recovering from a period of brokenness. If you would like to make a donation, here are the ways to do that:

• Mail a cheque to 65 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 2E9.
• Use the ‘Donate’ button on our website.
• Sign up for Pre-Authorized monthly giving, thus ensuring a vital stream of income for the Cathedral. Please note that at any time you can stop or change the PAG amount by emailing the office.
• Make a gift of securities (see details below).

Making a Gift of Securities

Have you considered making a gift of securities? Donating publicly traded stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other securities allows you to claim back income tax and avoid paying capital gains tax – reducing your tax bill and potentially increasing your donation to the Cathedral. And right now is a good time to make a donation of this nature as the market has regained much of the ground lost earlier in the year.

In 2019, the Cathedral’s annual offerings increased by 7.5% with much of the increase attributable to a greater number of donors making their annual monetary commitment through a Gift of Securities. To those of you who have made such a gift, we thank you.

We make it easy. Simply complete the form provided on our website here and submit it to your broker. You will receive a tax receipt for the full appreciated value of the donation.

For further information or assistance, please contact Joyce Badley, Executive Director, at 416-364-7865, ext *225 or jbadley@stjamescathedral.ca.

STAYING CONNECTED

Our next E-Connections will be published the week of August 23. We invite you to continue to link to the Cathedral’s website or Facebook page for updates, Morning Prayer, service listings and inspirational messages. Thank you for your love and support during this period in the life of St. James. Please remember, you are not alone.

Blessings and peace to you all,

The Very Reverend Stephen Vail, Rector of St. James Cathedral & Dean of Toronto
Don Solomon & Jayne Hobbs, Wardens
svail@stjamescathedral.ca
wardens@stjamescathedral.ca