Christ's Church Cathedral | Hamilton, Ontario - A place of community, compassion, and hope

In our Parish Cycle of Prayer we pray for Robert James & Helaine Guther-James; John Janisse; Rose Janson; Barbara Jepson; Kim & Michael Johnston.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we pray for the Church of South India (United).

In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada we pray for Bishop Jason Zinko, the people and rostered ministers of the Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario Synod.

In the Anglican Church of Canada we pray The Rt. Rev. Bruce Myers, Bishop, and the people and clergy of the Diocese of Quebec.

In our Diocese of Niagara we pray for our Bishop, The Right Reverend Susan Bell; St. Cuthbert's, Oakville, the Venerable Jeff Ward, Rector, the Reverend Canon Dr. Alan Hayes, Honorary Assistant, and the people of that parish.

As a community we pray for those who struggle with, are recovering from, or have recovered from substance abuse and addictions.

Those who have asked to be remembered in our prayers: Susan Andrews; Gary Hanna; Sally & Willow; Celina Liong; Janet Wude; Heather Glass; Norm Foley; Donelle de Vlaming; Jonathan James, Bishop Ralph; Turner Shaw; Gary and Sue; Gary and Katie Hanna; Carole Nixon; Shirley Schmirler; Daniela Cruz; Justin Rego; Josh; Maryse Fisher; Ernie Taylor; Colin; Brenda Gallagher; Janet Thompson & Family.

On February 19 many attended, and a few watched from afar the CCC Annual Vestry Meeting. Some Vestries focus on challenges and fears. Sometimes they can be downright depressing! Not so for the CCC Vestry, there was a spirit of thankfulness and excitement.

Vestry was full of thankfulness for the generosity of so many who gave so much to our ministries. At this time last year, our budget projection was to end the year with a significant operating deficit. By the end of the year, that deficit was gone and replaced by a modest surplus!

God is faithful and our parishioners responded to the call to give! We are thankful for generosity at CCC!

There was a sense of excitement at Vestry as well. There is a palpable sense that God is building a community and drawing people into 252 James Street North. How wonderful to hear from Catherine and Dane, Jr., two of our newer parishioners. It was encouraging to hear what brought them to the Cathedral parish and what keeps them coming back. We are excited to welcome so many new parishioners to our community!

Vestry always includes a lot of financial statements and reports. This year was no different. Our intrepid treasurer, J. Lefebvre shared that we are once again budgeting for an even larger deficit. J. shared that much of this year’s projected deficit is due to the stock market downturn in 2022. Our endowment funds provide a significant portion of our yearly revenues. Unfortunately, when the markets go south, we cannot draw as much from those funds as their original capital must be protected. The numbers look a bit intimidating, but instead of focusing on the challenge we know that God is great and the parishioners of CCC are generous.

The 2023 budget was passed with the understanding that parishioner giving would increase by two percent (2%). This means that each of us need to prayerfully consider how much more we can commit to God’s work at CCC. While we are all being asked to consider increasing our giving by 2%, an even greater increase is what is really needed. As one wise parishioner pointed out, the cost of living has increased far more than 2%. If we only increase spending on ministries by 2% we are actually falling behind. So please don’t feel you have to limit yourself to a 2% increase! If we want to end the year again “in the black”, it is going to take more than 2%.

No fear, no anxiety – God is great and the parishioners of CCC are generous!