Welcome. Glad you dropped by!
Come explore a community that welcomes every child, youth and adult, the wondering and the wandering, no matter who you love or how you vote. Join us in bringing justice and peace in our region and our world. There’s room here for your faith and your questions, your gifts and your needs. We hope in this space you will be refreshed and challenged and connected to the accepting love of God and God’s people.
This is a Christian community of faith that values being diverse, affirming, and inclusive. We are located downtown Halifax and operate throughout the week both online and in-person, with traditional and contemporary Anglican worship services that feature ancient and new forms of worship, prayer, and music, from traditional choral services to a weekly dinner church eucharist. One Sunday worship features the largest pipe organ in the Maritimes; another offers music with piano and other instruments. Weekday services provide a respite for those seeking spiritual refreshment, refuge, and inspiration. (See more at Worship)
All Saints is both active beyond its doors and a spiritual refuge with a beautiful, music-filled interior. Our congregation of over 300 families and individuals support people on the margins through several outreach programs and local charities and advocate for justice on a wide array of issues. [See more at Outreach and Justice]
We offer various ways to get involved in the church and the local community, including children and teen programs. We also provide for the needs and preferences of our parishioners, offering programs both online and in-person as we are able. See [Make an Impact]
The Cathedral Church of All Saints is listed in the Affirming Church Directory.
Our Building and Communities
“I never weary of great churches. It is my favourite kind of mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral.” Robert Louis Stevenson
To step into All Saints Cathedral is to experience scenery that its rather plain dark stone exterior belies. Soaring arches highlighted in deep reds and gold rise toward the vaulted ceiling nearly seven stories in height! The sights and sounds of the busy city of Halifax, which has grown up around All Saints over the past 100 years, are hushed in the vast expanse bathed in the soft colours of the striking stained-glass windows, and warmed by the intricate oak carvings.
As the cathedral church for the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, All Saints is the gathering place for liturgical events which draw and unite people from across two provinces for Synods, Ordinations and other celebrations.
Located in the midst of Halifax’s university, hospital, and cultural centres, and just steps from the busy Spring Garden Road shopping district, our cathedral also serves as a venue for a number of educational institutions, government, arts and community groups, such as Symphony Nova Scotia, CBC productions, Scotia Festival of Music, various choirs and theatre events, the University of King’s College and The Atlantic School of Theology.
Accessibility
All Saints Cathedral is serious about ensuring that people of all ages and conditions can participate as fully as possible in the life of worship and learning, fellowship and outreach.
Mobility – We have an indoor ramp leading from the parking lot entrance into the sanctuary, and fully accessible washrooms in the parish building. We can also provide a wheelchair or rollator to help people get around the building.
Hearing – We offer hearing assistance devices that work wirelessly; they can also connect to people’s hearing aids.
Visual – We provide large print bulletins for Sunday morning worship services, and have worked to ensure this website is adaptable for people with visual impairment.
Food – We strive to include vegetarian and/or gluten-free options in what we serve, and to label food with common allergies such as peanuts.
Jargon – the Anglican tradition dates to the 16th century – inevitably our language can be full of unfamiliar words and terms. We try very hard to use more generally known words and keep the jargon to a minimum!
What Is a Cathedral Church?
All Saints is the Cathedral for the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The word cathedral comes from the Latin: cathedra, which literally means “chair.” A cathedral is a church designated as the principal church in a diocese where the bishop’s chair (or symbolic seat of authority) resides. It is sometimes referred to as the “mother” church of a diocese. To learn more about the history of All Saints Cathedral, click here. To see the bishop’s chair and perhaps experience this place of spiritual refuge, please join us for a service and stay for a tour.
Our Mission Statement
We are called to be a place of hope in God’s world: where God is worshipped with heart, mind and voice; where Christ’s peace and justice are sought; and where strangers can become friends.
Our Vision
We love our neighbours and in doing so, love God through:
- Attentive nurturing of common life –creating a community of faith where people know and care for one another, embracing the diversity of our backgrounds and our gifts.
- Abundant hospitality – that welcomes, invites, and connects.
- Living liturgy – that resonates and connects people in the experience of holy worship.
- Excellence in music and song in liturgy and performance.
- Enriched opportunities for intelligent inquiry and dialogue – offering challenging, enjoyable and diverse opportunities to explore and learn and deepen our faith.
- Compassionate service, advocacy and justice-building in our community and beyond.
- Presence as a holy and spiritual place and as a venue for artistic expression in the centre of Halifax.
- Communication of our ministry to our communities, inviting collaboration.
- In pursuing our vision, we are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit at work in our congregation, our neighbourhood, and our world.
Rising Up Plan
The fruit of a strategic planning effort to focus All Saints Cathedral on the particular mission to which God is calling us in the particular community in which we exist, with the particular gifts, resources and passions we hold, the Rising Up Plan is a road map for where we are going in the areas of Worship and Faith Formation, Outreach and Engagement. Equity and Inclusion, Belonging and Justice. Read the All Saints Cathedral Rising Up Plan 2024 here.