Christ Church Cathedral hosts Evensong service

Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral is welcoming people to a historical, musical evening, Evensong, next weekend.

Brian Groos, organizer of the St. Christopher Singers choir whose music will be featured in the service on May 28, said Evensong dated back to Henry VIII when he formed the Church of England.

Under Henry’s direction, certain services were combined to become Evensong, Groos said. The service provided composers of the time with a new venue for their work.

Also on May 28, the Friends of Christ Church Cathedral is being launched. It is aimed at people who value the spiritual, social and cultural contributions of the cathedral to Victoria, even if they are not parishioners.

Money raised will help support the maintenance, repair and conservation of the cathedral and support its cultural programs.

Groos said Christ Church is now one of only two churches in Canada still regularly celebrating Evensong. The other is in Toronto.

But Evensong, a musical service for early evening, is undergoing a rebirth in England, Groos said. Its time of day outside the morning, its music and its prayer, more reflective than sermonizing, is seen as fitting well with modern lifestyles.

“It can just pull the week together before returning to work the next day,” Groos said.

Anglican churches in university cities such as Oxford and Cambridge are becoming famous for their Evensong services, attracting locals and outsiders, he added.

In Victoria, the Festal Evensong Service takes place from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Christ Church Cathedral is on Quadra Street at Rockland Avenue.

For more information go online to chrishchurchcathedral.bc.ca.