Nearly there

The Hope Cathedral

May 2021

Welcome to the inauguration!

After lots of hard work this spring, we are ready for the inauguration of the Hope Cathedral. Although unforeseen events have given us headaches, we have kept to June 5th as an important milestone in a project that has been going on for almost three years now. So it is with great pleasure that we are able to invite you, both physically and digitally, to this special day!

Photo: The Sustainability Rose, created by pupils at Hjerleid Craft School out of marine plastic and oak from Fredrikstad’s cathedral park.

Programme

On Saturday 5th June, on World Environment Day itself, we welcome you to follow us live on Facebook. At exactly 14:00 we will board the floating cathedral, accompanied by beautiful, specially composed music. If you want to celebrate this moment with us, you can click on this link.

Inauguration of the Hope Cathedral

Singing by Helene Bøksle and the Cathedral Girls' Choir and music by Carl-Andreas Næss

Welcoming speech by Bishop Atle Sommerfeldt

The Inauguration of the Hope Cathedral by

HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Interfaith tributes to creation and nature

Music by Helene Bøksle

Raising the Wreath og Hope

by the volunteer team, godmother Celine Kurahachi Manstad, Anne Skauen and Solveig Egeland

Music by Helene Bøksle

Greetings from Minister Nikolai Astrup, Karoline Andaur (WWF) and UN Environment by Dr Iyad Abumoghli

Music by children from Fargespill Østfold

This next part of the program takes place in Norwegian

Speeches by county council leader Tonje Brenna, mayor Jon-Ivar Nygård and artistic and visionary director Solveig Egeland

The serving of Sustainability Cake and coffee

The cathedral is open and you can walk freely in it

Music by Foghorn

Two short films

On the occasion of the inauguration, we have made two short films in English about the Hope Cathedral and the interfaith collaboration of the project. You can view them here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n8S7O6gbY8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RsTVaVsQjU

Help from Hjerleid Craft School

For a whole week in May, Hjerleid Craft School was Isegran building a door and a window in the cathedral. Teachers Steinar Moldal and Njål Andreassen led the students through something they had not previously worked on, namely hewing a so-called Labank door using an axe and building the UN's sustainability ring as a window in the cathedral. We are very pleased with the result and look forward to showing the beautiful woodwork in the cathedral, which has taken inspiration from the Norwegian stave churches.

Several of our volunteers have assisted with cakes and food during May and Iver Skauen, who is a 7th grader at Torsnes School, had taken time off school to take part in a traditional craft workshop. To get the construction work finished in time, we have received help with various tasks from Moon Productions as well as from carpenter Erik Tamnes from Røros. Thanks to all our good helpers.

Bjørn Kjærand Haugland is our new Hope Cathedral ambassador

We are both proud and pleased to have Bjørn Haugland in our ambassador network. One icy May evening, Bjørn showed up at Isegran to inspect the cathedral and to hear more about the project. The refreshments were simple - coffee and chocolates. But that didn’t seem to put the director of SKIFT Norway off striking a blow for cooperation in sustainability and the fight against marine plastic.

Bjørn Kjærand Haugland is co-founder and CEO of SKIFT Business Climate Leaders. SHIFT is the business community's own climate initiative. The mission is to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and support the government in meeting its national climate commitments by 2030. SKIFT wants to highlight the business potential of a low-carbon economy. Bjørn is also former Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer in DNV GL Group, where he worked with the group's sustainability initiatives. Haugland has extensive experience in assisting a number of multinational companies in areas such as sustainability, innovation and business development.

I can bake waffles!

Edvard Kerans (14) stopped by at Isegran after school one day. He was looking for assignments he could do in connection with the school initiative "Service as Action" at CIS (Children’s International School). We agreed that supplying the volunteer team with fresh waffles is a good assignment - waffles and coffee make everybody happy. During the volunteer session on Saturday, not only did Edvard come and bake waffles, he took his turn at planing as well.

Creation Day

On 6th June we celebrate Creation Day at the Hope Cathedral with a celebratory service organised by the Church in Fredrikstad. The event will be streamed at 11.00 on the facebook pages of Church of Norway in Fredrikstad and the Hope Cathedral. The service will be led by the dean, Kari Mangrud Alvsvåg, and parish priest in Glemmen, Hege Fagermoen.

Please join us here.

Four about the Hope Cathedral

By Julian Fjeldberg (14)

Do you know what the Hope Cathedral is? - No. What do you think about the project? - Sounds very good, recycle the plastic. Do you follow the project on social media? - No.

Ken (29)

Do you know what the Hope Cathedral is? - Yes. What do you think about the project? - It's an art project, I like it very much. Do you follow the project on social media? - No, but I often go to Isegran to look.

Bengt (70)

Do you know what the Hope Cathedral is? - Yes. What do you think about the project? - I think it is a very good project! Do you follow the project on social media? No.

Dagmar (85)

Do you know what the Hope Cathedral is? Yes. What do you think about the project? - What I like about the project is that everyone can participate and contribute. Every individual can contribute to a better planet, regardless of gender, religion, orientation or whatever, and everyone is welcome! The fact that everyone can help and contribute to a cleaner sea is also incredibly important. Do you follow the project on social media? - Yes.

Monica (51)

Great interest in sustainability workshop

Every week, the Hope Cathedral receives school classes from the district. There is a lot of interest, and although the pandemic has created some challenges related to planning, we have found time for everyone who wants to visit us. Pupils learn about marine plastic and the sustainability goals, the importance of cooperation and volunteer work. Everyone gets to contribute by making bee cathedrals that are sold for the benefit of the project. The program is suitable for 4th graders and upwards.

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.