By Archbishop Anne Germond, Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario

Greetings from Cochrane, where I am attending the Sacred Assembly of the Diocese of Moosonee, along with Bishop Susan Bell of Niagara. We are here as guests of Bishop Rod BrantFrancis, and it is a joy to be gathered with clergy and lay leaders from across the diocese.

This is Bishop Rod's first Sacred Assembly since his consecration in May 2025, and yesterday's opening Eucharist offered a particularly moving beginning to our time together.

The highlight for me was Bishop Rod's charge to the diocese. It was a charge filled with gratitude.

He spoke of his thankfulness for his election as bishop, for the warm welcome he and his wife, Lisa, have received, and for the clergy and lay leaders who continue to serve so faithfully across Moosonee. Bishop Rod described Lisa and himself as a team, and together they have visited every congregation and community in the diocese over the past 18 months.

He expressed his appreciation for Chancellor Brian Finley, for wardens and treasurers, and for all those whose faithful service sustains the life of the Church. Above all, he gave thanks for the opportunity to serve in this season of both challenge and great possibility.

There were several moments in his charge that I found especially poignant.

One came as Bishop Rod reflected on 2026 as the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Anglican Church of Canada. He named the ordained and lay women who had helped shape his own formation and ministry over the years. Then he invited the women clergy present at the Assembly to stand, offering his heartfelt thanks for their leadership and service.

It was a beautiful moment of recognition, and a reminder of the many women whose faithfulness has helped shape the Church we are today.

Another deeply encouraging part of the charge concerned the relationship between the dioceses of Moosonee and Ontario.

For the past two summers, Archdeacon Nancy Northgrave of the Diocese of Ontario has travelled to communities in the James Bay Deanery to offer pastoral and priestly ministry. This has been a generous gift from the Diocese of Ontario, provided at no cost to Moosonee.

In a deanery where the shortage of clergy presents significant challenges, this kind of partnership is an extraordinary blessing.

As Metropolitan, I want to express my sincere thanks to Bishop Cliff and the Diocese of Ontario for their generosity, and to Archdeacon Nancy, who is here with us in Cochrane, for offering her time and gifts in this way.

To me, this is a wonderful example of what it means to share in the Gospel together. We are part of one Church, called to support and strengthen one another in ministry.

Bishop Rod also spoke about the importance of raising up new leaders from within the communities of Moosonee. He invited congregations to look around them, to discern whom God may be calling to lay and ordained ministry, and to pray boldly for those who might respond to that call.

He encouraged a deepening of prayer and discipleship, and the building of new relationships within communities. He spoke, too, about reconciliation and the deeper work of reconciliation that must continue throughout the diocese.

One statement in particular has stayed with me:

“Success will come in the relationships we have with one another and in our communities made whole.”

What a beautiful vision for the Church.

Our calling is not simply to maintain buildings, increase attendance, or sustain programs. It is to nurture relationships, to grow in faith, and to participate in God's work of healing and reconciliation in the communities we serve.

There were other encouraging signs of this commitment to leadership and formation. Bishop Rod thanked retired clergy member Cliff D. for his ministry in Moosonee during the summer and for his generous offer to help train lay readers online.

He also announced the appointment of Canon Patricia Dorland, Chief Financial Officer of the diocese and incumbent of Trinity Anglican Church in Cochrane, as Executive Archdeacon. Her collation will take place at the closing ordination service, when Deacons Grace Park and Thomas Ferris will be ordained to the priesthood. Bishop Susan Bell will preach at that service.

Today, Bishop Susan and I will have the privilege of offering teaching sessions to the Assembly. I will lead a session on pastoral care, while Bishop Susan will speak about Anglican polity—or, as we sometimes say, how we do things around here.

It is especially lovely to have Bishop Susan with me. This is her first journey north, and I picked her up at the airport in Timmins yesterday for our drive to Cochrane. The tamarack trees along the way were absolutely spectacular in their autumn colours. I was tempted more than once to stop for a photograph, but the narrow highway made that difficult. Perhaps on the journey home!

Bishop Rod described my visit to Moosonee as something of a homecoming, and that is certainly how it feels.

I am grateful to be here, grateful for the ministry taking place across this vast diocese, and grateful for the relationships that bind us together as a provincial family.

As we continue our Sacred Assembly, I carry with me Bishop Rod's invitation to pray boldly, to recognize the gifts God is raising up among us, and to measure the life of our Church by the relationships we nurture and the communities we help make whole.

May God bless the people and ministries of the Diocese of Moosonee.