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Dear Friends, 
 
At Pentecost, we shared summer plans that included choral residency in the UK, much-needed renovation of the Wolff organ, and a more modest combined Eucharist on Sunday morning to facilitate those music plans and broader staffing considerations. As summer draws to a close, we give thanks for the growth made possible by these decisions, and turn eagerly toward the harvest season and the beginning of the program year. 
 
The Anglican Church of Canada joins the ecumenical Christian observance of Creationtide, weaving the Trinity's presence at Creation with our own call to ecological stewardship and reconciliation. Creationtide begins here with a  September 6, 10:30 a.m. al fresco celebration on the South Lawn. Then, on September 13, we return to the nave, and 4-service Sunday schedule, organ and choir to continue the season's themes.  
 
The international Season of Creation steering committee took inspiration from Ezekiel 47 and immersion in living water. This theme has immediate relevance to our province as we contend with warmer temperatures and dangerous fires. It also recalls our baptismal vows and the responsibility that all Christians share for reconciliation with God, the human family, and the whole creation. The theme of living water and baptismal vows will inform both our intercessions and Eucharistic prayer for the season. 
 
The community is invited to explore the theological underpinnings of creation spirituality in a 5-week series that begins on Saturday, September 5, at 1 p.m. Led by the Rev. Bill Tarter, CFC, the series looks to the Book of Nature as divine revelation, and draws on the writings of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure and philosopher Dons Scotus. From Romans 8, and other passages of scripture, we are invited to consider the longing of all creation for its fulfillment.  

Also in September, we will be delighted to welcome four new members of cathedral staff: one organ scholar, two choral scholars and a seminarian. More details and fuller introductions will be shared with you in the coming weeks.  
 
Creationtide culminates in festivities including a Saturday October 3, 10 a.m. pet blessing on the South Lawn and Sunday, October 4, 4 p.m. Festal Evensong and rededication of the Wolff organ. In honor of the occasion, our choirs will debut a new composition based on the Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis: 

You are praised, O Lord, through our Brothers, Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather; May you rain down your grace upon our nation, its people, and this land. O God, hear us, and turn us toward you...Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, their creator, they will be crowned. O God, hear us, and turn us toward you.  

May we, who seek communion with Christ, also find him dying and rising in the creation, and for love of him, seek its good. 
 
See you in church, 
 
Faithfully,
The Very Reverend Jonathan Thomas,                                            The Reverend Anna E. Rossi
Dean                                                                                                                       Vicar