Archbishop Linda Nicholls, Author at Anglican Journal

Leaving with a ‘heart overflowing with gratitude’

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 13:44:53 +0000

One of the ways we deepen joy in our lives is by the practice of gratitude. The worries and pains of daily life can easily pull us into a continuous state of discouragement or depression. When we stop and consciously look for moments of grace and goodness, our perspective is shifted like the turning of […]

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Thoughts on a change of season

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Fri, 31 May 2024 20:54:42 +0000

On Sept. 15 I am beginning a transition of vocation after almost 39 years of ordained ministry. I will still be an ordained bishop but without a particular role in a parish or diocese or national office. I will be “retired.” In the past months of reflection on this transition I’ve begun wondering, first, what it will be like to not have the responsibilities of the primacy or a diocese to occupy my heart and mind. I’ve begun to acknowledge the losses of role and identity I’ll experience—losses I both long for and anticipate with sadness.

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Joy in small steps!

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Wed, 01 May 2024 13:00:57 +0000

As I write this in late March, I’m mindful that we recently passed t the fourth anniversary of the start of the lockdowns due to the pandemic. In March 2020 we were suddenly confined to our homes, shocked at the speed with which COVID-19 caused chaos. We wondered whether the church would survive being unable to gather in person.

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Living the gospel is listening—and responding

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 13:14:42 +0000

Recently I spoke with a group of new clergy at a post-ordination gathering. They are all in the early years of ministry and bring enthusiasm and energy to their desire to serve the gospel. I was envious as I recollected my own enthusiasm in ministry 39 years ago. However, I also recalled times when I was too sure that I knew the “right” way to do things and held too firmly to one perspective, missing the grace of needed nuances or of different ways of being or doing.

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Celebrating the gift of an all-accepting love

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:00:29 +0000

Human beings were created by the love of God for love of God and neighbour, expressed in a variety of ways through friendship, marriage, family and community. Whenever we begin a friendship or an intimate relationship we long for it to be one in which we can be honest and truthful, accepted, respected and loved […]

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Remembering the humanity of our leaders

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 14:00:49 +0000

There is great excitement when someone in your family or parish is ordained. A sense of pride and joy permeates the congregation and there are immediately higher expectations, as if the person suddenly became more holy or closer to God. Deacons read the gospel and prepare the eucharistic table. Priests and bishops are given the […]

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God, our companion in the new year

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 19:05:47 +0000

As a student I loved September! The beginning of a new school year meant a fresh start with a new teacher and a stack of new notebooks with blank pages ready to be filled with learning and ideas. Nervous excitement and anticipation accompanied those days! As an adult, I find the transition to a new […]

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Harbingers of hope in a strife-torn world

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 14:00:57 +0000

The outbreak of war in the Holy Land began with the horrific attack by Hamas on civilians in Israel and escalated to an attack on—and, later, a deadly explosion at—the Anglican Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Since then, I have found myself pondering the paradoxes of daily life. On the one hand I begin my […]

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Discipleship is for every baptized Christian

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 13:00:40 +0000

In September the internet was flooded with “first day of school” pictures—the photos parents had taken of their offspring standing on the porch, backpacks filled with lunches and books and faces filled with expectation, before they headed off for another year of learning. Baptism is our “first day of school” in discipleship—a school that continues […]

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Let’s lose—and find—ourselves in community

Archbishop Linda Nicholls — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 18:40:05 +0000

When I moved to London, Ont. I was immediately struck by the community spirit here, something I’ve rarely experienced in much larger cities. Almost everyone walking by on the street nods and says hello, acknowledging your presence. Drivers politely allow you to turn into the stream of traffic without aggression. You are acknowledged as a […]

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