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Hello!

My name is Jacqueline Stober and I’m going to be with you for a few months helping around the place. I thought you might like to know a little bit about me as we begin this journey together over this summer while Craig is busy with his sabbatical. I actually retired last August, having most recently been the senior associate priest at the cathedral since 2023, but my story starts a long time before that…

As you might guess from my accent, I was born in Liverpool back in the UK. Everyone from Liverpool has a Beatles story, and mine is that I have an uncle whose band also used to play at the Cavern too. When I was a child he had me convinced that he used to lend his guitar to Paul McCartney. He denies it now, but he did used to live next door to Paul’s aunty.

Anyway, the first time I visited Canada was when I was taken on a day trip from Troy, New York, to Montreal by my parents. I remember absolutely nothing about that day, well I was only about eighteen months old at the time! We didn’t stay in the US, and I grew up in Liverpool, eventually attending the university there to study life sciences and becoming a high school teacher. Following that, in 1986 I married a Canadian (from Brentwood Bay), emigrated to Canada and began worshipping at the cathedral in the days of Dean Frame and Father Keith.

I often think of the cathedral as being my sending church, as it was there that my sense of vocation began to solidify, and when we returned back to Britain in 1998, I began exploring my vocation. I retrained and became an elementary school teacher, but that sense of vocation persisted. I was eventually ordained in 2007, and became a curate, serving in both Southport and Liverpool (just up the road from Penny Lane!). My first incumbency was in Newcastle upon Tyne on a modern housing estate, and then I became an Area Dean and vicar of three parishes in the beautiful South Dales of rural Derbyshire.

When I got an opportunity for a sabbatical, the only thing I actually wanted to do, was to come back to Victoria to return to the cathedral to explore ministry from the other side of the altar rail. I had a great time reconnecting with old friends and neighbours, so when I sensed that God was calling me back to Victoria, I jumped at the chance to return. My kids were both born at VGH, but both are grown and happily settled in Nottingham and London, although you might see them around from time to time when they come to visit.

Anyway, so here I am, with a springer spaniel called Jess, and a couple of opinionated cats called Lizzie and Mabel. My hobbies are winemaking and Duolingo, where I’m brushing up on my French, and learning Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese. I’ve also discovered the joys of growing roses. You may occasionally see me wearing funny clothes. That’s because I wear the black habit of the Benedictines, as I am a novice with them exploring that vocation. There’s a lovely sense of family, of love and support with them, and I see the same spirit of welcome when I spend time with you, too. I am really impressed by all the ways in which you love and support one another while at the same time reaching out to the community and growing in faith together.

I am really looking forward to the next five months. Please feel free to stop me any time to say hello and tell me a little bit about yourself. I want to get to know everyone as soon as I can, so that we can have a good summer and have lots of stories to tell Craig when he gets back.

Every blessing,
Mtr Jacqueline