Affection and appreciation mark the retirement announcement of Bishop Barbara Andrews
Sunday, June 2, 2019 Quesnel, BC
Surrounded by delegates and guests gathered for the Assembly of the Territory of the People in Quesnel BC, and in the presence of the Primate, the Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, accompanied by the Rt. Rev. Mary Irwin-Gibson, the Bishop of Montreal, Bishop Andrews announced her intention to retire Dec 31, 2019. By that time, she will have served as Bishop Suffragan for the Territory of the People for over ten years.
Hours before her announcement a policy to elect a Bishop was approved at the Assembly, which sets out a process which can immediately commence with the hope of an Electoral Assembly on September 28, 2019 and the seating of the next Bishop in early January 2020.
In her resignation speech, Bishop Andrews, said: “When I became Bishop Suffragan in 2009, I envisioned a different ministry, but found my role was to give leadership to a process of moving the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior from under the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Province of BC & Yukon, to becoming once again an independent Anglican identity with all the rights and responsibilities of a diocese.”
Bishop Andrews sees this evolution as one more step along the journey to healing and reconciliation, and as a way to truly embrace the whole people of God in this area as suggested in the new name: Territory of the People. The name was given to the Territory by the Territory Pastoral Elders, the Indigenous Council and the Coordinating Council, to be inclusive of all people who walk together sharing the love of Creator God.
Seeing the need for the Territory to embrace new models of ministry, Bishop Andrews worked with a team to develop an understanding of collaborative ministry within the Territory and installed the first leadership team to oversee a parish church with locally trained priests, deacons and lay leaders.
Bishop Andrews added: “What I will miss most in retirement is the privilege of sharing in ministry with an outstanding team of clergy and laity who have been courageous in finding new ways to be God’s people in the Territory.”
Barbara Andrews grew up in Fort McMurray, Alberta in a Métis family of nine children. She recently obtained her Status as a member of the Enoch Cree Nation. She is the mother of David and Patricia who are the great joys in her life. She is a life-long learner who attended St John’s Theological College at the University of Manitoba. During a recent Sabbatical at the Chicago Theological Union, she worked with Dr. Robert Schreiter on reconciliation initiatives.
Ordained a Deacon (1997) and Priest (1998) in the Diocese of Rupert’s Land by Bishop Patrick Lee, Bishop Andrews was consecrated in 2009 by Archbishop John Privett to serve the once titled Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior. Elsewhere she has served in parish ministry, in an inner-city shared mission project, and as Executive Director of the Sorrento Centre.
She is deeply committed to the empowering of all people in their baptismal ministry. Her education and experience have taught her the healing power of a life of prayer, and the transforming and restorative power of God’s love, especially when the Christian community reaches out in acts of social justice and love to the most vulnerable of our society.
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CONTACT
The Rt. Rev. Barbara Andrews
bishop@territory.anglican.ca
The Very Rev. Ken Gray
deanspc@shaw.ca
778 220 2631
