Diocese of The Arctic

We are very happy to present the news of our Cathedral for our Arctic News readers. This edition is devoted to St. Jude’s Cathedral and the restoration project. We wanted to tell our story and the history of our igloo shaped cathedral. We are proud of the outstanding efforts being made to fundraise for our rebuilding project and we wanted to share some of these with our readers.

We are certainly not alone in our efforts. So many have volunteered their time and talent to raise funds on our behalf. We in the Diocese of the Arctic have all been tremendously moved by the compassion and enthusiasm they have shown in the fundraising campaign to rebuild our beloved St. Jude’s.

In this edition we share with you some history of St. Jude’s and of the individuals involved in it’s construction. As well we will tell you of some of the parishes involved in making the furnishings for St. Jude’s.

Many individuals have an historical connection to the cathedral. Many of their stories are yet to be told. My involvement with the church began when the cathedral was first opened and consecrated in April 1972. As the synod delegate for Resolute Bay I was in Iqaluit. During our first session it was announced that this was the first constituted synod of the diocese. Later that Fall my wife, Mary and I made our way to Pangnirtung, where I began 3 years of study for ministry at ATTS. In 1975, upon graduation, I was ordained a deacon in St. Jude’s Cathedral. Following my ordination I was placed in Apex at St. Simon’s Church to be an assistant to the Rev. Brian Burrows and so my own early ministry was with St. Simon’s/St. Jude’s Parish in Iqaluit. Then in 1999, I was consecrated suffragan bishop for Nunavik in St. Jude’s Cathedral and in 2002 I was installed in the Cathedral as the 5^th Bishop of the Arctic.

Even though I can claim how the cathedral has been part of my own spiritual and ministry journey, I think of those who begun their spiritual journey at St. Jude’s as Sunday school children. Some of these Sunday school children are now serving as lay leaders or Sunday school teachers because of the ministry of St. Jude’s parish. They have a deep memory of the cathedral as being an instrumental part of their spiritual journey. We are very proud to share, maybe just a little bit of how God has fulfilled the call to ministry through the history of St. Jude’s Cathedral and through individuals that were there to make that spiritual journey happen as they too responded to God’s loving call to ministry.

We now invite and encourage those who have come onboard, because of our story, to generously share in our fundraising efforts to rebuild that which we have lost. Our ministry continues even without the cathedral building. But by the grace of God we are full of hope and faith that the cathedral will once again, as the wonderful hymn goes, rise to “higher ground”.

An initiative is underway to print some high quality photo-reproductions of a painting that was done by acclaimed local artist Bill Barnie and shows a wintry scene of the Cathedral with parishioners outside (front cover photo). Mr. Barnie now lives in Whitehorse and operates a framing business as well as his studio.

Mr. Barnie got the idea that the contribution of 100% of the proceeds of sales of the photo reproduction might be an ideal way to raise money for the new cathedral while leaving purchasers with a true copy of the painting to commemorate the history of the cathedral.

The painting's owners, Mike and Rosemary Twerdin, of Iqaluit, loaned the original painting to the artist, and he has just completed production of 100 limited edition prints on the highest quality rag paper. It was necessary to have the original painting on hand for this work, to ensure a perfect match of colours.

The artist is happy to have these reproductions made available for this worthy cause (artists retain rights respecting reproduction, even after a painting is sold) and has gladly contributed his time and expertise to the project.