Author, hymnist, liturgist and former dean of Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral Canon Herbert O’Driscoll died at home in Victoria, B.C. on July 25 after a four-year struggle with melanoma. He was 96.
Friends and colleagues remembered O’Driscoll for his prolific writing, vibrant preaching style and work in theological education. He wrote more than 50 books, lyrics to dozens of hymns, and led many spiritual retreats and pilgrimages.
“Herb has been such an important voice in our church—with a gift for words that touch the heart, lift the soul and inspire faith afresh,” Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said in a staff email. “May he rest in peace with God whom he served with such joy during his life,” she added.
O’Driscoll was born in Cork, Ireland in 1928, educated at Trinity College Dublin and ordained in 1952 at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Immigrating to Canada in 1954, he served in parishes in the diocese of Ottawa, as a naval chaplain and beginning in 1968 as dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver. There he became a frequent speaker on local radio, oversaw fierce debate on the fate of the cathedral building amid financial concerns and hosted a visit from the Dalai Lama in 1980.
Close friend Canon (lay) Ian Alexander called O’Driscoll a formative influence. As a teen, Alexander was working at Vancouver radio station CHQM when he met O’Driscoll at a noon Eucharist. The two developed One Man’s Journal, a popular syndicated radio feature in which O’Driscoll gave a daily two-minute spiritual reflection.
Alexander praised O’Driscoll’s ability to distil complicated and important theological and spiritual ideas through storytelling. “He was an outstanding preacher himself and he was able to help others to improve their preaching in a way that led them to speak to a wider audience more effectively and directly.”
After a decade and a half as rector at Calgary’s Christ Church, Elbow Park, O’Driscoll retired in 1993 but remained an active church member, serving as honourary assistant at Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria and continuing as an author and hymnist.
Canon Richard LeSueur, former interim director and lecturer at St. George’s College, Jerusalem, remembered O’Driscoll as a lifelong mentor and friend, starting in 1986 when O’Driscoll invited him to join a team ministry at Christ Church, Calgary.
“Herb took his stand at the crossroads of society and Christian faith illuminating the world of our time and our lives with a depth of insight and sensitivity that was more than profound; it was transformational,” LeSueur said in a Facebook post.
O’Driscoll also served as warden and teacher at Washington D.C.’s College of Preachers, where he developed a unique method of education in preaching based on practical exercises and peer feedback.
In 2022, the Vancouver School of Theology honoured O’Driscoll and his wife of 69 years by establishing the Herbert and Paula O’Driscoll Forum in Preaching
and the Liturgical Arts, which includes an annual masterclass in preaching based on the style he had developed.
Updated with more information Aug. 8, 2024
Correction: O’Driscoll served as honourary assistant at Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria after 1993.
