As I sat down to write this month’s article, I was still ensconced in my office in Wainwright and contemplating all that would be changed by the time your eyes will see these words. I will be moved into the Bishop’s Lodge. Some of you may have met me at the Cathedral for my first Sunday in the Diocese. My Diocesan office will be a shambles. I will be grinning ear to ear as I ask for help, meet new people, discover what it is that a Bishop-Elect does … In other words, all will be as it should be!
This month of March brings with it some rather important celebrations in the life of the Church. On the 18th I will be consecrated your 8th Bishop of Brandon and finally able to officially begin the work I have been longing to do since last November. The 2nd and 3rd parts of Lent will be upon us, with Holy Week looming large. Easter Day falls on the last day of this incredible month when we are truly invited to live into the Resurrection lives we experience each day. (More on that in the April edition.)
This Lenten season is one in which we, as a Diocese, are being invited to pray ceaselessly, ponder deeply, discern faithfully as we recognize that our Diocesan Lent is one which is changing all our lives. It will bring about he formalization of new episcopal leadership. It will grant us an opportunity to break our Lenten fast and celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph as we participate together in the next generation of our Church Family becoming …
This Lent I invite you to consider that word “becoming.” Who is it that God is inviting us to become as we establish new relationships one with another? How are we growing into who we will become? What will become of our Diocese as our shared ministry unfolds with a new bishop who brings a different perspective to the Family? How are you called to help me, as your new bishop, become who God is calling me to become? How am I called to help you live into the beauty and potential of who God is calling you to become as Christians, congregations, as a Diocese?
As I approach the Consecration on the 18th of this month at the Cathedral, I do so with a healthy sense of wonderment and questioning who it is that God is helping me to become. I can see the changes that have begun in my own heart, mind, and soul since the election in November. In many ways, I feel as though I have been living in a season of Lent since then. I am aware that life cannot go back to the way it was. Nor would I want it to. I am cognizant that I can take not one step forward on my own steam, but only by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. I am living in a vulnerable, yet gentle, space in which Jesus’ presence is palpable, comforting, and challenging. I am in a very Lenten season.
I invite you to join me in this intentional season of Lenten becoming … We are on a journey together which will change who we were and into who God is calling us to become. Our Resurrection Day is almost upon us, but we need this season of preparation to become ready for what God is preparing for us next. I believe what God is calling us to become is glorious!
