The Right Reverend Mary Irwin-Gibson

Bishop’s Message from Anglican Montreal Summer 2024 cliquez ici pour la version française

photo by Janet Best

“I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am. Send me”. Isaiah 6:8

April was National Volunteer Month in Canada and I’ve been thinking about what a wonderful gift volunteers are to our society and to our church. Many people of all ages volunteer their time and talent to help out in some way. I wonder when it was that you volunteered your services for the first time?

While we may offer to help just because help is needed, sometimes what we do is very meaningful and can even be lifechanging. Isaiah was responding to what he heard as a call from God. Some of us respond because we want to serve God by caring for our neighbour. There are different motivations for and interests in volunteering. I am personally grateful forthe generosity of the people of our diocese in serving one another and God in the church and in the communities around us in so many ways. Without you we could not accomplish our mission of love and hope and compassion in Christ’s name.

Not everyone is called to do what Isaiah was called to do, but I believe that all of us are called to offer our gifts and talents to the service of God and the needs of God’s world. Each of us will need to ask God what that looks like and give our time as generously and faithfully as we can.

We have recently put up some new images on the walls of the foyer in Fulford Hall. They show people from our Diocese in various situations: serving in worship, in a home for seniors, in ministries of prayer, in outreach, welcome and hospitality, music ministry, fellowship, stewardship of the environment. You can see those images on the front cover of this issue.

Bless you for all you do

About Bishop Mary

Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson, had been Dean and Rector of St. George’s Cathedral in Kingston since 2009 but is a committed, bilingual Montrealer with family connections and 28 years' service in the diocese.

Bishop Irwin-Gibson, who moved to the Montreal area as a young girl and grew up in the area, was ordained as a deacon and priest in 1981 and 1982. She served for three years as an assistant curate in the Parish of Vaudreuil, then for seven years as rector of the Parish of Dunham-Frelighsburg in Quebec until 1991.

She spent 18 years as rector of Holy Trinity Church in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, in the Laurentians, earning an MBA in French along the way from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). In 2009, she became the rector at St. George’s Cathedral.

When nominations were open for the next Anglican bishop of Montreal, “I felt the Holy Spirit asking me to let my name stand,” she told Matt Gardner of the Anglican Church of Canada news service.

“I was willing to go if I was elected and willing to stay (in Kingston) if I wasn’t elected, because something I’ve learned from the military (in Kingston) about deployment is that when the boss calls you to go, you go, and if the boss says stay, you stay. And the Holy Spirit’s the boss.” The bishop’s husband, Mark Gibson, has a diverse business and consulting career, particularly in renewable energy and technical sales. He was executive officer of the Diocese of Montreal for about 10 months in 2006. They have two adult daughters.

Bishop's Award

The Bishop’s Award was instituted in 1989 by Bishop Reginald Hollis as a way to recognize the Christian witness of lay people who have made an outstanding contribution over several years to the life and work of their Parish and the Diocese at large.

To download the list of recipients of this award, click HERE