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Introduction

 

Christ Church Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Connecticut, the spiritual home of all Episcopalians living in Connecticut, and a house of prayer for all people.  As a Cathedral, we are committed to engaging the arts, seeking the welfare of the city where we are planted (Jer. 29: 7), and making the social Gospel a reality by speaking God’s truth to power.  We delight in providing space for our community partners to gather, hosting a broad range of performances, installations and events, and serving as “home” to diocesan gatherings.

 

The Cathedral is blessed with and fed by a robust worshiping community.  For decades, we have been primarily a “destination church”, with worshipers arriving from many cities and towns in greater Hartford and beyond.  Our hope, going forward, is to become a “hyper local church” as well, serving the needs of the many people who have moved into downtown Hartford in recent years.

 

The Cathedral’s congregation is multicultural, multilingual, and broadly diverse.  It skews towards the older end of the age spectrum.  Meanwhile, within half-a mile radius of the Cathedral there are literally thousands of young adult seekers and “nones”, including college and university students, who might welcome a safe place to form community, and to explore what it is like to be connected to something larger than the self.  With them in mind, the Cathedral has recently called a Vicar/Chaplain, who as Vicar will focus on evangelism and formation, and as Chaplain will attend to the spiritual needs of students enrolled in Hartford’s several colleges and universities.

 

History of the Physical Plant

 

The Cathedral is blessed with a worship space that has been saturated in prayer for nearly 200 years.  It is quite beautiful, and its Gothic style draws our spirits heavenward.  At the same time, thanks to renovations completed in 2021, the space works well for a variety of uses including concerts, dance recitals, art exhibits, and the occasional magic show.  Brief Cathedral History found here.

 

2015 Cathedral Discernment Task Force Report.  Key recommendations

 

In 2014, Bishop Ian T. Douglas convened a diocesan-wide task force led by the Rev. Canon Harlon Dalton (the Cathedral’s priest-in-charge at the time), and charged it with exploring two broad questions:  (1) What type of cathedral, if any, is needed by the Episcopal Church in Connecticut as it lives more fully into God’s mission in the 21st Century? and (2) What is the vocation, going forward, of Christ Church Cathedral in the city of Hartford and beyond? After engaging in extensive research and study, and conducting listening sessions across the Diocese, the Task Force issued a detailed report that was presented to and affirmed by the 2015 Diocesan Convention.  Report found here.   The report contained several recommendations, including:

 

The cathedral should maintain and support a regular worshiping community.

The cathedral should embody and enhance our common identity as the Episcopal Church in Connecticut.

The cathedral should maintain a sizable worship space that accommodates different liturgical styles, and a staff that has the capacity to craft and execute exemplary worship services open to all.

The cathedral church should be configured with flexible seating rather than fixed pews and furnished in such a way that it invites pilgrims to enter in and wander about, even when weekday worship is taking place.

The cathedral should explore new mission fields from time to time, using its resources to clear a pathway for others to follow.

The cathedral should develop ongoing relations with civic leaders, and with organizations and institutions that are devoted to the common good.

When appropriate, the cathedral should use its sanctuary as a meeting ground for civic engagement.

The cathedral should develop ongoing relationships with organizations and institutions that seek to foster meaningful engagement across faiths, religions and traditions.

The cathedral should develop and maintain the capacity to function as a public policy arm of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut on issues in which out institutional interests are at stake or the church’s moral leadership is needed.

 

Implementation of Task Force Recommendations

 

In the intervening decade, the vision articulated in the Cathedral Discernment Task Force Report has been lived into under the dynamic leadership of Dean (now Bishop) Miguelina Howell.  Our nave has been renovated to accommodate multiple uses and multiple styles of worship.  Our ties to our nearest neighbors, the Hartford Stage Theater and Capital Community College, have been strengthened in that the Cathedral hosts opening night galas for each of the theater company’s productions, provides auxiliary space for community college classes, and provides counseling, through our Canon for Latino Ministry, to community college students whose primary language is Spanish.  We are coconvenors, with the Hartford Stage, of “Conversations in the Public Square” throughout the year, at which civic leaders gather to address ways to improve the welfare of the city we share, and we foster civic engagement in myriad other ways as well.  Finally, we have enhanced our capacity to host diocesan events, and to execute worship services that are exemplary.

 

Cathedral Congregation

 

The Cathedral is blessed with a robust worshiping community that is multicultural, multilingual, and broadly diverse.  We conduct four worship services a week — in Bushnell Park on Saturday afternoons at 2 PM, and in the Cathedral on Sundays at 8 AM, 10 AM, and 12:30 PM.  The 12:30 service is conducted in Spanish.

 

The Saturday service in the park uses a stripped-down Eucharistic liturgy and is favored by people who lack stable housing, are food insecure, and/or do not feel comfortable entering conventional worship spaces.  The service is followed by fellowship and food.  The Sunday morning services are similar in that they use the same Rite II or Enriching Our Worship liturgy, but they differ in that there is no music at the 8 AM service.  It takes place in the Chapel, is quite intimate, and is inhabited by its participants in a way that is truly wondrous.  The 10 AM Sunday service includes hymns, service music, and choral music that is wide-ranging.  The 12:30 includes Spanish-language hymns and service music, and instrumental music in the Andean tradition.

 

Music at the Cathedral

 

Music is an integral part of our worship on Sunday mornings and afternoons.  At the 10 o’clock service, a choir composed of parishioners and paid section leaders supports congregational singing and performs anthems from a variety of musical traditions.  The choir’s repertoire ranges from plainchant to Bach to contemporary Gospel.  Anthems and hymns are usually accompanied on an Austin pipe organ, but when the music calls for it, our Director of Music moves to a Steinway grand piano.

 

Music at the 12:30 service is made by gifted musicians steeped in the Andean tradition.  The service is marked by robust congregational singing from the Flor y Canto himnario, as well as instrumental music featuring wood flutes, guitars, and charango.

 

We are often called upon to provide music at Diocesan services and events.  In addition, our music program serves the wider Hartford community, most prominently through our sponsorship and ongoing support of Music Moves Hartford, a “street choir” that enables downtown Hartford residents to make music and fill streets, buildings, churches, and public spaces with their voices and talents.

 

Children

 

Given the age profile of the Cathedral’s congregation, we do not currently conduct “typical” classes or programs for children or young adults.  We do, however, have a vibrant ministry to children who are not formally affiliated with the Cathedral.  This ministry is centered in our music program.  We have a youth choir that introduces neighborhood children to rhythm, melody, harmony, and notation, while fostering teamwork, concentration, and cooperation.  As a bonus, choir members are entitled to free weekly individualized piano lessons.  In addition to bolstering the gifts, competencies and self-worth of its members, the choir serves as a means of community building, which we reinforce with fun group events such as piano parties, arts and crafts, day camps, and an Easter egg hunt. Click here to see a Channel 3 Easter interview.   On occasion, the youth choir sings at the 10 o’clock service, and we are exploring other ways to engage members who express an interest in being involved in the life of the Cathedral.

 

Young adults

 

As noted above, there are literally thousands of young adult seekers and “nones”, including college and university students, living within a half-mile radius of the Cathedral, part of a recent influx into downtown Hartford.  With them in mind, the Cathedral has recently called a Vicar/Chaplain, who as Vicar will focus on evangelism and formation of young adults, and as Chaplain will attend to the spiritual needs of students enrolled in Hartford’s several colleges and universities.

 

Cathedral governance

 

When Christ Church Hartford was designated a diocesan cathedral in 1919, the parish of Christ Church was dissolved.  Since that date, the governance of the Cathedral has been shared between the Cathedral Chapter and the Cathedral Dean, with the former being responsible for maintaining the building and overseeing finances, and the latter being responsible for overseeing liturgy, worship, outreach, program, building use, and staffing.  The Chapter is composed of members from across the diocese who are elected by the annual convention, and by the members of the Cathedral’s Congregation Committee.

 

Although the Cathedral is no longer a parish per se, it is home to a congregation, and in a sense to several congregations since some parishioners worship in Bushnell Park on Saturday afternoon,  others worship at the Cathedral in English at 8 AM and 10 AM on Sunday mornings, and still others worship in Spanish on Sunday afternoons at 12:30 PM.  The Cathedral’s congregation is governed by a Congregation Committee whose members are elected each year at the Cathedral’s annual meeting.

 

Cathedral Clergy and Staff

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The Cathedral is currently served by a full-time Dean and a part-time Canon for Latino Ministry.  Beginning in September 2026, the clergy team will expand to include a full-time Vicar/Chaplain, who will split her time between serving the Cathedral with an emphasis on evangelism and formation, and serving Hartford’s colleges and universities as a chaplain.  In addition, the Cathedral is served by six non-stipendiary priests associate, who preach and celebrate on a rotating basis.

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The Cathedral’s non-clergy staff includes a full-time Operations Manager, a fulltime Finance Officer and Archivist, a part-time Music Director, and a part-time Executive Assistant and Program Coordinator.  In addition, the staff includes several “per service” employees or contractors, including a lay liturgical coordinator, a sacristan, two Spanish music coordinators, four choir “section leaders”, a website coordinator, and a facilities caretaker.  The Cathedral also benefits from the service of several non-stipendiary lay associates, including a digital evangelist and two digital vergers.

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Cathedral finances

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While the Cathedral’s congregation is robust and generous in its giving of time, talent and treasure, it cannot and should not be expected to financially undergird the breadth of the Cathedral’s activities.  Thankfully, the Cathedral is supported by endowments and trust funds, the corpuses of which exceed $18,000,000.  This enables the Cathedral to routinely operate with a balanced budget. Link to the budget found here.