News Roundup

Bishop to retire
After serving for five years as head of the Anglican diocese of Calgary, Bishop Derek Hoskin, announced his retirement effective Dec. 31.

Bishop Hoskin was elected in 2006 as the eighth bishop of the diocese of Calgary, which includes 20,000 Anglicans in 92 congregations in the southern part of Alberta.

In a pastoral letter issued to members of his diocese, Bishop Hoskin said he decided to retire because 2012 marks the 40th year of his ministry in the Anglican Church of Canada.
–Marites Sison

Lutheran appointed
In a historic move, the Anglican diocese of Rupert’s Land has appointed a Lutheran pastor-the Rev. Paul Johnson-as dean of the diocese and incumbent of St. John’s Cathedral in Winnipeg.

This is the first time that a Lutheran-Canadian pastor has been appointed dean in an Anglican cathedral in Canada. A dean is the priest in charge of a cathedral and occupies a senior position in a diocese.

Johnson begins his appointment on Jan. 16, 2012. He succeeds Dean Robert “Bob” Osborne, who retired last year.
-M.S.

Fresh Expressions
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has expressed hope that the Fresh Expressions initiative will flourish in the Anglican Church of Canada as it has in the Church of England.

“My deepest hope is that…this new vision can go forward with a clear sense that this is something that everybody’s involved in,” said Archbishop Williams in a videotaped message that opened the Canadian Vital Church Planting conferences in the dioceses of Edmonton and Toronto last spring. “Whether you favour, feel at home within an inherited church life and styles of worship, or whether you’re looking for something a bit different, it’s the same church, it’s the same gospel….”

Today, Fresh Expressions is “no longer any kind of marginal or spare-time interest for the Church of England,” noted Archbishop Williams. “In recent years, it has become more and more part of what we take for granted as a way of moving forward and growing as a body of Christ.”
-Staff