REGINA — Catherine Harper came to the Diocese of Qu’Appelle in a rather roundabout way, and credits settling here to “the hand of God.” Originally from Trinidad, she was about to graduate with one-year diploma in Anglican studies from the Vancouver School of Theology in 1998, when a bishop from Ontario visited the school.
After speaking with Harper, the bishop said he was on his way to a meeting of the House of Bishops, and would talk to his fellow bishops about her.
As a result, she received letters of interest from four bishops, including Bishop Duncan Wallace, then Bishop of Qu’Appelle. When Wallace learned she had no experience living in rural areas, he arranged for her to visit Qu’Appelle.
She spent about four days in the south-west corner of the province, and recalls meeting Archdeacon David Nevett and Revs. Duncan and Beverly McLean, then in Swift Current, as well as laypeople. She immediately thought, “These are caring people.”
Before attending the Vancouver School of Theology, Harper had received a master of divinity from Regent College, Vancouver.
She was ordained to the diaconate on Nov. 1, 1999, at All Saints, Shaunavon, and ordained priest at the cathedral on April 1, 2000.
She was hired by the Parish of Shaunavon in 1999. Initially the parish included Eastend and Ravenscrag, and a few years later, Gull Lake. She remembers the people of the parish as being very encouraging to her, and “they steered me on the right path and helped me understand living in Saskatchewan.”
Harper remained close to the parish through all her time in the diocese. Shortly before she retired, she recalled how a woman in Shaunavon had told her, “It’s not where you live but how you live.” People in the rural communities “know how to live fully,” says Harper.
She served her first parish until moving to Weyburn from 2003 to November 2010. While in Weyburn, she also conducted services once a month in Stoughton and Kisbey.
At the beginning of January 2011, Harper moved to St. Michael’s Retreat Centre, outside Lumsden. She lived in community with the Franciscans who operated the retreat centre, and helped with their work, leading retreats, providing spiritual direction and working with Fifth Step, part of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program, which she describes as a very powerful experience.
Harper was the first Anglican to be so involved with St. Michael’s, and said this came about because of the ecumenical board of directors, which included Anglicans, Lutherans and Roman Catholics. Bishop Rob Hardwick had asked her to consider “a wonderfully challenging experience” and says that her years at the retreat centre were “formative.”
Harper worked at the retreat centre until June 2015, shortly before the Franciscan friars left and the building was put up for sale.
Her next position was as director of ministry development for the diocese, which evolved to include overseeing the Qu’Appelle School of Mission and Ministry. Harper recalls that before she went to theological college, she had completed a master of education at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
She worked just one year as a teacher librarian in the early 1990s at a K-9 school in Dartmouth, N.S., and before that had taught junior high school in Trinidad.
When she enrolled in theological college she thought, “I will never use my education training again.”
But she put that education to good use in QSMM. The program provided courses on a wide range of theological topics, for both clergy and laypeople. Initially the classes were in person, but during COVID-19 moved online, which has continued to allow people from across the diocese, and from other dioceses, to attend without the time and expense of travel.
From its inception in 2011, there have been over 250 students from 28 parishes. Just in the past three years, there have been 44 new students. A number of them were from dioceses across the country, and many courses have been delivered, over more than 40 sessions.
Harper commented that QSMM has been a blessing to her. “The thing that gave me the most joy was seeing the connection that people made with others throughout the diocese, especially pre-COVID, as they shared experiences and learned together.”
When Shelley Baron retired as executive officer in 2022, the roles she had been handling came back to Harper as executive archdeacon, and others helped her with the more technical aspects of QSMM.
As executive archdeacon, Harper had to deal with many church property matters and the business of the church, and recalls wondering “do these things really matter?” But then, she says, the Holy Spirit showed her that those buildings and other resources allow for ministries to happen.
In the past 26 years there have been many changes, and Harper acknowledges that some may seem to show decline or lessening. “But the Holy Spirit continues to work, even in change,” she says.
When asked for some of her best memories of her time in Qu’Appelle, Harper said, “Oh, I have so many wonderful memories of interactions with saints of the church. Not only have I had the privilege of being a parish priest, but I have also had the opportunity to preside at more than half of the parishes in the diocese at various times.
“I have journeyed with many from discernment to ordination and following, through my work with the Committee on Ordained Ministry and my work as secretary of the Advisory Committee on Postulants for Ordination (ACPO), which is the provincial discernment group.”
As for the future, Harper says it is unfolding. “I will spend some time in Trinidad and some time here. I will travel and visit relatives, and rest. I will see where the Spirit leads.”
