Will it be the Very Rev. Peter Elliott in Bruins black and gold at Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral on a Sunday soon? Or the Very Rev. John P. Streit Jr. of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston wearing Canucks blue and green?
With the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks embroiled in an hard fought and controversial series with the Stanley Cup on the line, the deans of the Episcopal and Anglican cathedral churches in both cities have joined the fray with a friendly wager: The loser will contribute $250 to a good cause of the winner’s choosing and will wear the winning team’s jersey in church on the first Sunday after the finals’ end.
Word on the street is that Jep's payment will go toward the Christ Church Cathedral Building Fund and the imminent Roof Replacement Project.
It turns out that hockey rivalry isn’t these deans’ only bond—the two attended seminary together at Episcopal Divinity School in the late 1970s and then renewed their acquaintance more recently at conferences for cathedral deans.
“We’re friends, and so when the finals came up, we proposed this as a way to make it more interesting and to involve our cathedrals in something kind of fun,” Streit said.
When it comes to mixing Pentecost vestments with hockey jerseys, neither is certain if special dispensation will be necessary to avoid a liturgical season color clash—apparently they don’t teach that sort of thing in seminary—but each is pretty sure it will be the other’s worry.
And, it’s not as if Anglican relations in North America are hanging in the balance over this, Streit averred. Or are they? “I will note that a Canucks player did bite a Bruin in game one—unseemly behavior that my friend and colleague, Dean Elliott, ought to address,” Streit said.
Vancouver’s Peter Elliott responds that “Our motto is Open Doors - which of course refers to the penalty box for Bruins roughnecks. I also remind Streit of the hockey commandments: Thou shalt not cross check, high stick or bear false witness (dive) before the referee.”
Game on.
With the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks embroiled in an hard fought and controversial series with the Stanley Cup on the line, the deans of the Episcopal and Anglican cathedral churches in both cities have joined the fray with a friendly wager: The loser will contribute $250 to a good cause of the winner’s choosing and will wear the winning team’s jersey in church on the first Sunday after the finals’ end.
Word on the street is that Jep's payment will go toward the Christ Church Cathedral Building Fund and the imminent Roof Replacement Project.
It turns out that hockey rivalry isn’t these deans’ only bond—the two attended seminary together at Episcopal Divinity School in the late 1970s and then renewed their acquaintance more recently at conferences for cathedral deans.
“We’re friends, and so when the finals came up, we proposed this as a way to make it more interesting and to involve our cathedrals in something kind of fun,” Streit said.
When it comes to mixing Pentecost vestments with hockey jerseys, neither is certain if special dispensation will be necessary to avoid a liturgical season color clash—apparently they don’t teach that sort of thing in seminary—but each is pretty sure it will be the other’s worry.
And, it’s not as if Anglican relations in North America are hanging in the balance over this, Streit averred. Or are they? “I will note that a Canucks player did bite a Bruin in game one—unseemly behavior that my friend and colleague, Dean Elliott, ought to address,” Streit said.
Vancouver’s Peter Elliott responds that “Our motto is Open Doors - which of course refers to the penalty box for Bruins roughnecks. I also remind Streit of the hockey commandments: Thou shalt not cross check, high stick or bear false witness (dive) before the referee.”
Game on.
Images: Top left, the Reverend Dr. Peter Elliott, top right, the Very Reverend John (JEP) Streit