Montreal Dio’s 2025 Convocation was held on the evening of Monday, May 5, 2025 at St. George’s Place du Canada.
The service was a celebration of the accomplishments of students who will go into ministry in the Anglican and United Churches as well as other Christian denominations.
Master of Divinity graduates included Ozioma Obijiofor, Sarah Wicks-Potter and Felississima Mwambarangwe.
Fiona Crossling, a member of the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter in St. Laurent and a long-time advocate for the unhoused in Montreal, gave the Convocation address.
At the ceremony, Fiona was presented with an honorary doctorate for: “faithful and devoted lay ministry in the world that responds to a pressing human need in our context. This is an example of what baptismal ministry looks like and what it means to be a Christian in the public square.”
The following is an excerpt from Ms Crossling’s biography, written by her husband, the Rev Chris Barrigar.
Fiona Crossling did her BComm at McGill, and a few years later her MBA at HEC. Fiona’s early career was as a management consultant within the Bell system of companies.
During her MBA studies a friend invited her to St Stephen’s Westmount, where she encountered the Gospel in a new way and eventually gave her life to Christ.
In 1995 Fiona married Chris Barrigar, and in 1998 they moved to Bangalore, India, where Fiona moved into non-profit management for a Christian development NGO.
During her years in Bangalore Fiona also provided management consulting for other Christian organizations in India. In 2001 Fiona and Chris moved to the city of Chennai, India, where Fiona shifted back into the business sector, taking a position as Chief Operating Officer of a Swedish-owned software company.
In 2004 Fiona and Chris returned to Montreal, where Fiona took a position as Assistant Director of MultiCaf, a food-security non-profit in Cote-des-Neiges. After some time there, she moved to Assistant Director, and then Executive Director, of Share the Warmth, a community development organization in Pointe St-Charles.
Then at the very start of the Covid lock-downs, Fiona began her current position as Executive Director of Accueil Bonneau, which was founded by the Grey Nuns nearly 150 years ago to serve the homeless of Montreal.
Fiona is a frequent voice in the Montreal media, both French and English, on behalf of the homeless of our city, and frequently engages with the Mayor’s office and the provincial Minister on homelessness issues.
Fiona also believes in the value of research-supported practice, thus she has engaged her organizations with research teams from several of Montreal universities in social-sector research projects. As well, Fiona has been Chair of the Board of Interserve Canada, a human services organization that seconds Christian professionals to organizations (both Christian and secular) in the majority world. (This was the organization which seconded Fiona and Chris to their organizations in India). She has recently contributed a chapter, on leading change, to a book on non-profit leadership.
During their years since returning to Montreal, Fiona has also been a mother of two, and active in her home churches of St Peter’s TMR, and, more recently, St Mark & St Peter, St Laurent. This involvement has included teaching Sunday School, being involved in various parish groups, and on occasion helping organize certain parish events–not to mention giving moral and prayer support to her husband in his ministry.
