That evening we went to the Cathedral which is away from downtown along the bank of the Red River. I'm afraid I didn't take a shot of the Cathedral but was more impressed by the beauty of the river. We started with a service near the bank.

In the afternoon came an orientation session. This is the room in which we will spend lots of time this coming week. New Westminster is right at the back, although the convening circular put us in the middle. A devious plot to keep us back? Probably not. You can see at left, John Oakes, with back to us Charles Nurse, at right youth delegate Ardith Bailey. The head is the foreground is Cathy Derksen's.

Then Ron and I checked out the Science Museum there, really designed for kids, so we felt right at home. Here Ron is trying to touch his nose while looking at himself in a concave mirror (or is it convex?).

And they had some sociological displays, this one about the turn of the Century, I'd guess, from the Orange order: "One school, one flag, one language." Not quite as happy with multiculturalism as some of us might be today.

Of course they had great moose - I told Ron the story of how Ros and I saw a moose in northern BC.

Tuesday morning was free time so Ron Harrison and I took a look at the Manitoba Museum, which has some great dioramas. This was the best.

First Video

Well, here's my first video. I had a quite quiet day today on the day between the Anglican Editors conference and General Synod itself. The video should explain what happened.

But what I found remarkable was the sign - the first time I've ever seen a church offering to do the Prayer Book ceremony, the Churching of Women - which has a, shall we say, interesting history. But the rector said that despite his offer no one had ever requested the service.

The oldest stone church in the west was St. Andrew's, also on the Red River. It's an historic site, which the people are proud of.

Here's Maggie Snyder who came under the fence on the grass, as I did.

Again, here's most of us when we stopped to take pictures of a dam on the Red River.

In the front of the wall of the stone fort we had our group shot. Gosh my hat looks silly!

I liked the Victorian flower beds that were part of the garden, this one in the shape of a star. I also liked the spittoons in the men's parlor (above).

Then off to Lower Fort Gary, a Hudson's Bay trading fort. A storeroom here. I didn't take a lot of pictures of the fort and I regret no pictures of the young people dressed in costume who took roles of people who might have been there in 1851.

Lots of gravestones of First Nations people in the churchyard, and settler's. Here an unusual heart shaped stone for an infant. People did not live as long as we do, for sure.

Bishop Don Phillips of Rupert's Land, Mark MacDonald, the national indigenous bishop, and the Peguis Reserve chief were among those present. The editors wanted their picture.

Here's a shot of St. Peter's, across the Red River. It was Peguis Day at the parish - a commemoration of the removal of a First Nation from the area in 1907 to the Peguis Reserve north of here (which had far poorer agricultural land). You can see it was a big picnic... despite some rain.

WE had a service at St. Peter's, Dynevor, a church where Anglicans in cold Manitoba winters might actually gather at the front (instead of the back) because that was where the stove was. The letters above say "Holy, holy, holy" in Objibway, I was told.

Much of the day (Sunday) was spent on the bus. Many thanks to Brian Crow, who arranged our trip. This was the fun day of the conference. We headed north of Winnipeg.

Sunset from the hotel window Saturday night.