Lent/Easter 2025
This issue of the Anglican Montreal contains the names of the individuals whom the search committee has presented as candidates for coadjutor bishop – the person who will take over when I retire in October of this year. I am grateful to all who have prayerfully and faithfully offered their candidacy. It is not easy to allow one’s name to go forward, to be examined and interviewed and discerned; to be willing to be chosen and uprooted, or discerned as not the right person for now.
I well remember the elections of Bishops Reginald Hollis, Andrew Hutchison, Barry Clarke, and Michael Oulton (Ontario). Each time there is a new bishop to be elected, it is a time of anxious waiting, of anticipating changes – both hoped for, and perhaps feared. It is also God’s opportunity for us as a diocese as we anticipate fresh leadership and new energy and ideas.
The whole process around the election needs to be surrounded with prayer and with the hope and faith that God is with us, leading and guiding us, nudging us and inspiring the church to discern God’s choice of our next bishop. Please be part of this preparation even if you are not a Synod delegate. Make it part of your Lenten discipline, seeking God’s grace and renewal for our diocese.
Delegates to Synod will meet on May 3rd to vote for the person they feel is called to this ministry. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to help our Synod choose. Pray for all the candidates and for their families as they stay open and available to God’s call.
The Easter gospel reminds us that the disciples faced an uncertain and frightening future after Jesus was crucified and his body went missing from the tomb. They gathered behind locked doors for fear of what could happen to them. And into that very room, Jesus appeared and brought peace and the call to go out and serve in Christ’s name: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” John 20:21
We may be finding the pace of change in our world, our country and our church disruptive and fearful. But we remain a church which has promised to serve Christ as faithfully as we know how, even when we are uncertain about what comes next. God will be with us throughout this journey.
+Mary
