St. Paul's Cathedral (Regina) - St Paul's As A Cathedral Church

St Paul's As A Cathedral Church

The Diocese of Qu'Appelle owned a substantial property in Regina on College Avenue at Broad Street which has now been sold to the civil province of Saskatchewan in order that the diocese finally achieve financial independence, it originally having been financially underwritten by the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield as a mission diocese, though Lichfield quickly became bored with this responsibility and gave it clearly to be understood that it expected Qu'Appelle to become self-sustaining.

The diocesan offices, the former St Chad's Qu'Appelle Diocesan School, an old people's home, the former bishop's palace and other diocesan structures dating from a time when the Anglican Church had ambitions for the prairies which now seem unrealistic, remained on the site, rented back from the provincial Crown until into the 21st century. Of some historical interest is the ambitious cathedral site laid out diagonally at the corner of Broad Street and College Avenue, still clearly outlined in hedges.

In recent years the Anglican Church of Canada has deliberated over the desirability of rationalising its administrative structures. With its 29 (or 30, depending on how one designates the Parishes of the British Columbia Central Interior, the former Diocese of Kootenay) it may be somewhat top-heavy with episcopacy given its small numbers outside Ontario and the Maritimes. By comparison, the Anglican Church of Australia, with far more members, has far fewer dioceses, for example — and the future of St Paul's as a cathedral may be in doubt.

By 1973 it was apparent that the diocese could never be self-supporting other than by alienating its only substantial real estate and that the original ambition to build a sizable cathedral in Regina could never be realised. St Paul's was then formally upgraded to cathedral status and a satisfactory 2-manual Casavant Frères organ built under then-organist Donald M. Kendrick and Dean James Allan, a gift of the Whitmore family of $20,000. The new Casavant organ was first played on the Sunday of May 1974 that the Rev. Michael Peers arrived from Winnipeg to replace James Allan as Dean.

The previous organ pipes had been located north of the chancel with the console on the south within the chancel, the instrument at the southeast corner of the chancel, just inside the doorway into the south chapel. The choir members were placed on the north and south of the chancel, west of the altar. The pipes of the 1974 organ are above the north transept and the console has been variously positioned in the north and south transepts. The original organ chamber behind the pulpit has been converted to a sacristy and a painting hangs where pipes were once visible.

The church basement has been substantially enlarged and converted to a Buddhist-style columbariam, with niches for cremated ashes arrayed post office-style around the perimeter: According to the Cathedral's website, "...he Columbarium is a permanent part of the church structure and serves as sanctuary for the cremated remains of individuals and families. The access-controlled, indoor facility provides year-round safety which is carefully monitored by church staff."