The Rev. Canon Ginny Doctor Photo: Marites N. Sison
“Do you, in the presence of this congregation, commit yourself to the dreams of the youth?”
“I sure do!” replied the Rev. Canon Ginny Doctor, grinning widely. This was but one of the pledges Doctor made when indigenous Anglicans and staff at General Synod gathered at a eucharist April 26 to mark the beginning of her ministry as coordinator of indigenous ministries.
Archdeacon Michael Thompson, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, led the ceremony along with the Rev. Norm Casey, co-chair of the Anglican Council of Indigenous People (ACIP) and Canon Laverne Jacobs, former native ministries coordinator for General Synod.
A Mohawk from the Six Nations and a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., Doctor has spent the past 18 years working for the Episcopal diocese of Alaska.
National Anglican Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald said Doctor’s appointment was “a great day for indigenous ministry.” He noted Doctor’s strength in the “ministry of teaching, healing and reconciliation.” Doctor not only believes that “the gospel is the agent of change in the life of the church…she insists upon it,” he added.