Partnerships and Collaboration: Success Stories
At a recent meeting of Cathedral Council, our aspirational statements calling us to be collaborative and to seek partnerships with other organizations ranked high on the list of priorities. Here's a reminder of what we said:
- Christ Church Cathedral welcomes partnership with all who feel compelled to serve the City. (Statement 3)
- Christ Church Cathedral aspires to build relationships and collaborate with people of other denominations, other faiths, and those who live outside faith traditions. (Statement 4)
So how are we doing? Well... here is one recent example:
The first 3 concerts in our series "Earth Songs: Music for Climate Justice" attracted several hundred people into the cathedral, many of whom are not parishioners here.
The audience enjoyed music played by the Emily Carr String Quartet (with whom we are now collaborating for the 3rd season in a row) and spoken word presentations by Sonia Furstenau (BC Green Party), Eldan Goldberg (Friends of Bowker Creek), Andy MacKinnon (Greater Victoria Public Library).
The costs for these concerts were underwritten by the Gail O'Riordan Climate and Arts' Legacy Fund at the Victoria Foundation. Each evening included a featured cause, for which donations were directed. They included The Mother Tree Project, The Friends of Bowker Creek Society, and Nature-based Solutions Foundation. Banners on loan from Christ Church Calgary are also hanging in the cathedral for the duration of the series, incorporating a visual element. The banners represent the four elements of earth, water, fire and air, which link thematically with the concerts.
Highlighted above are nine(!) organizations with whom we happily partnered on this series, and it's only half finished! The Emily Carr String Quartet, the Greater Victoria Public Library, and the Gail O'Riordan Climate and Arts' Legacy Fund have all said that they want to work with us again.
In addition, our reputation as a leader on climate issues is beginning to precede us: We were recently approached by a group from Chicago who would like to explore the idea of mounting a similar project at the cathedral next season.
There are still three chances to come and be part of these unfolding relationships. For information and tickets, check out our Earth Songs page
-MAT