Hiltz assisting bishop: Moosonee rethinking its structure
(Staff) ARCHBISHOP Anne Germond, Metropolitan of the ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, announced that Archbishop Fred Hiltz, former Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, will serve as the new assisting bishop of Moosonee upon the retirement of Bishop Tom Corston at the end of this year. She also wants the diocese to reflect during 2020 on whether it is time for a new model of ministry in the diocese.
The present model has the Metropolitan of the Province serving as the Diocesan Bishop, with an Assisting Bishop and Executive Archdeacon. Germond wrote in a pastoral letter dated Nov. 24th: “This model came about at a particular time in Moosonee’s history and the time has come for us to revisit this and ask whether it is the most feasible model at this time. I am also wondering about how Moosonee will fit in with the self-determining Indigenous Anglican Church in Canada as that begins to emerge.”
She continued, “All of this has led me to the conclusion that the next steps for Moosonee are not ‘business as usual’ and that appointing an Assisting Bishop to continue in the same vein as before is not the answer. Instead, I would like to invite us to use next year as a time of ‘Holy Discernment’ in which we actively and prayerfully engage with God’s word and one another in deep conversation about where God is calling us as a diocese.”
The Diocese of Moosonee straddles James Bay and covers much of northern Ontario and northwestern Quebec. Its 560,000 sq. km. expanse contains boreal forests dotted with numerous lakes, rivers and muskeg, while its northern region is treeless tundra. It is one of the great historic missionary areas of the Anglican Communion with records dating back to 1780.
The southern portion consists of communities historically founded on the lumber, mining and rail industries. The northern portion surrounding James Bay has vibrant mainly First Nations communities of the Cree Nation. The See city is Timmins, while other large communities include Cochrane, Hurst, Geraldton, Kirkland Lake, Moose Factory, Moosonee and Val-D’or. TAP
