One of the most important vocations of a cathedral, historically, is to serve as a community's center of civic moral consciousness. St. Paul's Cathedral, Fond du Lac is laboring to serve Fond du Lac as its "community cathedral," a place where the city gathers to learn, to pray, and to serve together for the good of the whole community. 

To this end, the Cathedral will be presenting a "Blue Evensong" on Sunday, September 29, at 4:00 p.m. A Blue Evensong is a service designed to honor and pray for the public safety personnel of the community. It is held on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, be­cause Michael is the patron saint of police officers and firefighters. All the public safety personnel of Fond du Lac - police officers, dep­uties, and firefighters - will be cordially invited to attend. The service is open to the public.

On March 14, ice jams sent water over the banks of the Fond du Lac River and flooded homes and businesses. Both the Cathedral and Gulick Hall came through the flood without waters reaching the main level (Thanks be to God!) and doesn't seem to have damaged the facility as much as in 2008. There was water in both basements. It remains to be seen what sort of damage the boiler in the Cathedral sustained.

Dean Patrick Perkins noted in a Facebook post the "Our God has brought his people — and OUR people — through floods before, and he will be faithful to do so again."

The annual St. Nicholas Faire is from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., Saturday, December 1 at the Cathedral of St. Paul, Fond du Lac. In addition to the famous Cathedral Mice made by the Mouse Factory (and a raffle to get your own mouse if you didn't pre-order), there is a Silent Auction, baked goods, a cookie walk, and crafts. Come visit and enjoy!

The Mouse Factory started in 1960, when parishioner Dorothy Duket was looking for a craft to make and sell at the annual St. Nicholas Faire.  She made 25 little "mice" dressed as elegant ladies, but had some misgivings as to how they would sell.  They were quickly sold for $1.00 each.  The next year she made mice dressed as members of the choir.  At the faire she was asked if the mice from last year were available, and she realized she had a collectible item going.  Parishioners were enlisted to help in the production and it became a fund raising effort to provide funds to restore and maintain the buildings at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul campus.  

Today, there are dozens of volunteers who do their part to create about 3,000 mice per year, with a new character added each year.  Ideas for the characters come from the volunteers as well as the many people who collect the mice.   The mice are created using an assembly line type production.  The pieces are cut using punch dies at a local factory, then they go to the hands of our workers.  The pieces are sorted and packaged, they then go through the various hands of sewers, stuffers, assemblers, facers, and dressers.  There is a second "line" of people who make the clothing and props.

Orders are taken each year in December through February for distribution the first week in December and at our St. Nicholas Faire on the first Saturday.  Mice are shipped all over the United States, and even have customers overseas. see a list and pictures of past mice here.

Mark your calendars!  This year the annual Christmas Gymanfa Ganu (Welsh hymn sing), directed by the Rev. Tom White of North Fond du Lac and accompanied by Steven Jensen of Milwaukee, will be held Sunday, November 18 at 2:30 p. m., at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, Fond du Lac. Prepare for Advent and Christmas the "Welsh Way" with a traditional, four-part harmony singalong. The carols will be sung mostly in English, and special numbers will be performed by area musicians. Te Bach (refreshments) will follow in the Parish Hall.  The Welsh Gymanfa Ganu Association of Wisconsin at wggaw.org.

Hardly a day goes by that Islam is not raised as a subject of concern by the news media. Islam has been on the minds of Americans since the events of 2001; however, it seems clear that most Americans know little more about Islam than they did before 9/11. “What exactly is Islam?” “What do Muslims believe?” “How should we as American Christians relate to Muslims?” Oftentimes, when we don’t understand a group of people whose faith and culture is different than ours, we approach them with fear and distrust.

​In Unveiling Islam, Episcopal priest and former Muslim, the Rev’d Canon Ezgi Saribay Perkins, will present a series of talks intended to engage the Fond du Lac community in a meaningful dialogue about the beliefs practices of Islam, paying particular attention to its similarities with and differences from Christianity. The talks will be held on Wednesday nights from October 10-31 at 6 pm in Trakel Hall of the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, 51 West Division Street in Fond du Lac. Refreshments will be served.

The Rev’d Canon Ezgi Saribay Perkins was born in Western Turkey and raised as a Muslim. After coming to the United States for college education, she converted to Christianity. In 2008, she became an Episcopalian and continued her faith journey in the Episcopal seminary, where she met her husband, the Very Reverend C. Patrick Perkins. She currently serves the Canon Precentor to the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul the Apostle.

The Lake Winnebago parishes (Trinity, Oshkosh; St. Thomas, Menasha; All Saints, Appleton; Cathedral of St. Paul, Fond du Lac) are coming together for an evening of food, fellowship and worship at Praise in the Park. Anyone is welcome to join in! Gather Shelter #1 in Rainbow Park (on the Fox River), Oshkosh on Sunday, August 12 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include testimonials about the recent mission trip to Puerto Rico. 

• Please bring a dish to share. We'll have plates and utensils (but feel free to bring your own as well).
• You may want to bring a chair and/or blanket with you. There are only so many places to sit at the picnic tables in the shelter.
• It's on the river and you can fish if you bring some fishing gear (make sure your license is up to date).
• Have some lawn games to share? Bring them along too!!!
• It would be great if you could RSVP on Facebook

The Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle, Fond du Lac, has released the profile for the search for its next Dean. The profile is available at diofdl.org/deansearch where it may be downloaded as a PDF or read directly on the page. Additional information about Fond du Lac is also available. The search will remain open through the end of November 2017.