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Newsletter from The Hope Cathedral $$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$
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Well, what can you say in a newsletter in times like these? We at the Hope Cathedral feel the impact of the situation just like most other people. We’ve put one foot on the ground and prioritised a little differently. How we long for our weekly work-ins, our school visits and our work on bee cathedrals, and how we miss the fellowships, laughter, coffee cups and chat with all the nice folks who visit the construction site! But the time will come and we’re looking forward to gathering again in our wonderful volunteer fellowship. Here’s wishing you a good spring!
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Photo: The cathedral framework is now clearly emerging with its beautiful woodwork mounted on the barge. Let’s enjoy the sight as long as we can, before we start the work of covering the roof, building the gable wall and the entrance.
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The joy of masteringThe municipality of Fredrikstad has an initiative for adult (50+) immigrants who are not entitled to language teaching. Coordinator Hakim Abdalgadir meets the group, called Mestringsglede («the joy of mastering»), twice a week. In March we managed to meet up a couple of times before we had to change our routines. The plan is that the group will be with us this spring, making bee cathedrals and practising their Norwegian with us in the workshop. Read the newspaper article in Dagsavisen here (Norwegian).
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Photo: The group «Mestringsglede» from left to right: Ukana Benjamin, Shabaz Salimi, Hassan Alyamani, Khalil Desho, Alkhatem Maryud, Alemseged Andemariam, Adam Welse og Hakim Abdalgadir.
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Workshop with MoldalThe first week of March was spent in an open workshop with Steinar Moldal. Around ten people took part from Monday to Friday, and, would you believe it, they managed to to put all the rafters in place in the course of these days. It was an impressive effort which made construction manager Andreas very happy.
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The rafters that form the framework of the roof are made of timber felled locally last winter. Many volunteers have been employed over the last few months in the task of barking the timber. Good exercise! Here we see Andreas Brudvik in full swing. |
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The rafters that form the framework of the roof are made of timber felled locally last winter. Many volunteers have been employed over the last few months in the task of barking the timber. Good exercise! Here we see Andreas Brudvik in full swing. |
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We don’t know how many cups of coffee we’ve drunk during these volunteer sessions, but it must be a few thousand. The breaks and the chats are the most enjoyable part of working together. Here you can see a workshop break with Steinar, Peggy, Andreas and Andreas. |
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We don’t know how many cups of coffee we’ve drunk during these volunteer sessions, but it must be a few thousand. The breaks and the chats are the most enjoyable part of working together. Here you can see a workshop break with Steinar, Peggy, Andreas and Andreas. |
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Both at volunteer sessions and during workshop the day starts with a run-through and a distribution of tasks. Here we see course leader Moldal briefing participants at the construction site. |
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Both at volunteer sessions and during workshop the day starts with a run-through and a distribution of tasks. Here we see course leader Moldal briefing participants at the construction site. |
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This lady is called Fairuz, and she volunteered as cake baker when we advertised after bakery products to keep our participants from keeling over from hunger. The Hope Cathedral has many sorts of volunteers, cake bakers being one of them. |
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This lady is called Fairuz, and she volunteered as cake baker when we advertised after bakery products to keep our participants from keeling over from hunger. The Hope Cathedral has many sorts of volunteers, cake bakers being one of them. |
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It’s not only men at our workshop, ladies are interested too. Mari Bremnes Ese is one who had no previous experience, but who was keen to learn more about traditional crafts. Here she is with Rolf Hohman.
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It’s not only men at our workshop, ladies are interested too. Mari Bremnes Ese is one who had no previous experience, but who was keen to learn more about traditional crafts. Here she is with Rolf Hohman.
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After a week of intense work, seven pairs of rafters are in place in the Hope Cathedral. Another milestone has been reached. |
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After a week of intense work, seven pairs of rafters are in place in the Hope Cathedral. Another milestone has been reached. |
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Cafe HancoEarlier we had the pleasure of being served a lovely hot lunch by pupils at Café Hanco. Now it was the pupils’ turn to take part in a workshop at the Hope Cathedral. A great bunch!
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The Hope Cathedral to NidarosWe just managed to visit Bishop Herborg Finnset in Nidaros before everything closed down. A wonderful trip back and forth on the night train and briefings from both deans and deacons in the beautiful archbishop’s residence near Nidaros Cathedral. The aim of the visit was to convey how we’ve «rigged» the project and to show the transfer value the Hope Cathedral has for other regions of the country. The question was: What sort of «Hope Cathedral» might be relevant for Nidaros?
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Photo: Visiting Trondheim. From left to right: Solveig Egeland (Hope Cathedral), Herborg Finnset (Bishop of Nidaros), Janet Ratio Øverland (Trondelag county leader for NRK’s TV campaign) and Anne Skauen (Hope Cathedral).
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Bee cathedrals - for the people and the beesThis spring we will be hanging up lots of bee cathedrals on Isegran that people can take home and hang on their house wall. The bee cathedrals are made by volunteers and provide solitary bees with a place to lay their eggs. As we all know, the bee population is on the decline and we need to create favourable living conditions for them. You are welcome to take a bee cathedral home with you and send money (the amount is up to you) by Vipps to the Hope Cathedral 530228. We can also send. Then you be supporting the bees and the Hope Cathedral.
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Briefly on hopeIn March we started some small-scale film productions at the Hope Cathedral that we are sharing on Facebook. While we wait for permission to be together again, we are sending greetings and reflections around what hope means for us in these times. Here is a link to an interview of Tariq Alsagoff, leader of Dialogforum Østfold (Norwegian).
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Words of comfortFaith and beliefs are an important part of many people’s lives, particularly when life seems so uncertain. Because of the corona situation, the booklet «Words of comfort» is now digitalised. It contains some of the most important texts from different faiths and life philosophies in Norway. Download the booklet here (Norwegian).
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Prayers for hope and the oceanWe continue meeting to pray for hope and the ocean at the construction site at Isegran, every last Sunday in the month at 5-5.30 pm. A great tradition that brings people together. The event will be streamed directly.
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The Hope Cathedral is an inter-faith and sustainable art project based in Fredrikstad. We are building a 120 m2 barge of wood which will support the Hope Cathedral. The framework is inspired by stave churches, while the 300 m2 roof will be built as an innovative project using plastic from the ocean. The cathedral will be a symbol of hope built through cooperation. The project is under the leadership of Borg Diocese. Both the process and the finished cathedral is open to all.
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