After a series of chemical explosions rocked three cities in China in August, killing hundreds of people and injuring many more, the Mandarin Fellowship of St. James Cathedral held a bilingual prayer service on Sept. 20. About 130 people attended the service, which began inside the cathedral and then continued outside with intercessions at St. James Park, in front of the Diocesan Centre and at the cathedral’s Memorial Cross. The service was said in Mandarin and English and included singing by the Mississauga Chinese Christian Church choir.
“We have witnessed what is so true – that we, being many, have become one body in Christ, wherever the corner of the world we have come from,” said James Liu, lay pastoral associate for Mandarin ministry at the cathedral, afterwards.
The following churches helped to organize and publicize the service: St. George on Yonge, Toronto; St. Thomas, Huron Street; St. Bartholomew, Regent Park; St. Mary Magdalene, Toronto; St. Hilary, Cooksville; St. Paul L’Amoreaux, Scarborough; St. Elizabeth, Mississauga; Good Shepherd, Toronto; St. Jude, Wexford; St. Simon the Apostle, Toronto; St. Martin in-the-Fields, Toronto; St. Matthias, Bellwoods; Grace Church, Scarborough; St. Paul, Bloor Street; St. Timothy, Agincourt; All Saints, Markham; St. John, Willowdate; St. Christopher, Toronto; and the Mississauga Chinese Christian Church. Wycliffe College, Holy Cross Priory and the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine were also involved.
Effective parishes turn outward