Volunteer Tubing

It seems everyone wants to help get the Transitional Cathedral in place. While they had to leave the work on the foundations to those who understand about concrete mixers, the Cathedral Regulars are offering their time to help with a five week project painting the
cardboard tubes that will feature in the Transitional Cathedral. Alongside unknown volunteers from all over the city, the Regulars are taking up the challenge of getting the tubes painted with three coats of polyurethane by the end of October. This means turning up to an enormous warehouse in Riccarton, getting into the safety gear – including steel toe boots and a high viz vest – and painting up and down the tubes for a few hours. Being with the Regulars it is clear this is not just about doing a good job with a painting roller. It is about putting our mark on a building that will eventually become a home again for the Cathedral community. At the end of the painting session each person writes their name inside a tube, leaving behind not just some smooth and shiny cardboard tubes, but something of themselves as a sign of hope for the life of this building. Next year when we sit beneath the soaring cardboard tube walls of the Transitional Cathedral and the sound of the choir is all around us, the names of these painters will be out of sight inside the tubes, but the gift of their time and support will always be remembered for the many unknown people who got alongside the cathedral community and walked beside us during the construction of this place of new beginnings, and we will welcome them warmly.
Nicky Lee