Archbishop will step down

Archbishop Thomas O. Morgan, 62, diocesan bishop of Saskatoon and metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Rupert’s Land, has announced he will retire, effective Dec. 31, 2003. “There have been no signs by the roadside, nor have there been voices from heaven, telling me that now is the time to retire. But … the time has arrived for me and for the diocese to begin a new chapter,” wrote Archbishop Morgan, who has been a bishop for 19 years and bishop of Saskatoon for 11 years. Born on his family’s farm in Emmaville, Sask., Archbishop Morgan brought a gentle and thoughtful presence to church work that eventually ranged around the world. He left Saskatchewan in 1966 to study in England and was ordained to the priesthood there in 1967. He served as a chaplain and parish priest in England before returning to Saskatchewan in 1969, where he ministered to native and non-native parishes. In 1985, he was elected bishop of the diocese of Saskatchewan. In 1993, he became bishop of Saskatoon and was elected archbishop and metropolitan in 2000. In 1999, he represented the Anglican Church of Canada at a meeting of the World Council of Churches in Zimbabwe and, later in the year, traveled to the Holy Land with his wife, Lillian. In 2001, he visited Mexico to investigate the effects of free trade. He and his wife have three grown children and four grandchildren.