Migrant and Refugee Sunday celebrated at Kingston-Channel

To mark Migrant and Refugee Sunday, the Kingston-Channel Parish community gathered recently for their annual Multicultural Mass at the Church of Christ the Priest.

The annual event, which first began in 2018, saw parishioners attend Mass dressed in the traditional clothes of their various cultures, with the community sharing a meal together after Mass.

The Liturgy of the Word was read in Spanish and Tagalog, while the Prayers of Intercession were offered in Dutch, Portuguese, Polish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, German and Malayalam, and the music was a mixture of hymns in Zulu, French, German and Tagalog.

Kingston-Channel Parish Liturgy Coordinator Di Van Tienen said the event began in 2018 and has begun to grow in recent years.

“We have one every Migrant and Refugee Sunday so that’s always the last Sunday of September,” she said.

“This year was probably our most successful – I think two thirds of [our congregation] were dressed in their traditional dress.

“In this and age, especially at our parish, we have so many different cultures, and it’s a way of showing how much we appreciate them, while giving us a chance to experience each other’s cultures.”

Di explained that the idea behind the Multicultural Mass arose in 2018 to suit the needs of the parish, which was becoming more culturally diverse.

She added that she hopes more parishioners will feel connected to the parish and its ministries as a result.

“Our congregation was really becoming more multicultural so we looked at what we could do [as a parish],” she said.

“My hope would be that our multicultural parishioners would not only feel welcome but understand what a gift they are to our parish; so that instead of participating once a year they be encouraged to use their gifts more often in one of our many ministries.”