Anglican Bishop of Montreal: charge to Synod

From The Right Reverend Barry B. Clarke, Bishop of Montreal:

As I have been preparing for this Synod in prayer, meditation and study, three discussion topics from this Synod stand out; we seem to be about money, sex and power, and not necessarily in that order! These subjects will engage us through our discussions around canonical changes and motions, as well as financial presentations.

The Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, in his book “Leadership from Inside Out – Spirituality and Organizational Change”, writes “We know all the vocabulary about the responsible use of power, and responsible sex, and being responsible as good stewards, all to create what one ethicist has called the “responsible society”. But let us not be naive about the dangers they pose to us. Money, sex, and power have a subtle but persistent ability, especially in contemporary society, to cloud our judgment, to corrode our values, and to capture our will, in the end, leading us to behave in ways that are flagrantly irresponsible.”

Interesting thoughts from the Anglican Bishop of Montreal in his charge to Synod (available here on the Dio-Montreal website).  Also of note in his charge:

A mere twenty years ago – not even a generation, our diocese could count on over 33,000 Anglicans; that number had gone down to 23,000 in 1997. This year, we can count 13,000 Anglicans on the parish roles of the diocese – a decrease of close to 60%.

I believe they also passed a resolution or two at the synod.

As always, our first task is to keep our leaders in our prayers.

Comments

[cpm]

I have come to like Bp. Clarke. His predecessor seemed to glaze over the lack of fruit his ministry bore. But Clarke seems to want to face it head-on.

This will be interesting.

[Mrs. Falstaff]

Where are we going in this handcart?