Bishop of Western Newfoundland John Organ, whom the provincial metropolitan found violated misconduct policies when he fired a former cathedral dean, has hired a new dean and will resign effective Oct. 1.
Organ said in an Aug. 25 letter to the diocese that he had appointed the Rev. Kris Gosse as dean and rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Corner Brook, Nfld. In another letter Aug. 26, he announced he would be resigning Oct. 1, 2025.
Organ was originally scheduled to retire in September 2026 when he would be 70 years old, the mandatory retirement age for bishops, but by mid-June had told Archbishop David Edwards, metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Canada (which includes dioceses in the Atlantic Provinces and part of Quebec), that he would resign Oct. 1, 2025. Later that month, he appeared to reverse that decision.
The bishop was the subject of protests by the cathedral’s congregation after he announced in a livestreamed Jan. 19 worship service that he had fired the Rev. Catherine Short, who had served as dean and rector of St. John the Evangelist since 2018. Organ described personal conflicts with Short and accused her of making “threatening” social media posts, in addition to other allegations. The vestry subsequently resigned en masse in protest, congregation members called for Short’s reinstatement as dean and Organ’s resignation, and Short filed safe church complaints against Organ.
Edwards found in a June 13 response to Short’s complaints that Organ had engaged in discriminatory practice in relation to the dean’s employment status, as well as “emotional abuse” and bullying. Edwards called for Organ to re-instate Short’s license to practice ministry as dean and rector of St. John the Evangelist; to apologize to the dean, congregation and diocese; and to take sabbatical leave until his Oct. 1 resignation.
Organ responded by ignoring the metropolitan’s recommendations and said in a June 25 letter to the diocese that he would continue to serve as bishop until “a fair and proper investigation that reviews the original issue and leads to the appropriate provisions to address it under the canons.”
In his Aug. 26 resignation letter, Organ said the diocese had entered a “very divisive and difficult period” in January. “It was all very unfortunate and it did not need to be so angry and extreme as it became,” he said.
“The matter could have been quickly resolved amicably for all if there had been a willingness to do so. Much harm has been done and there will need to be a serious effort to investigate how anger and hate created so much pressure that objective processes were prevented and Christ’s command to love one another and speak the truth to each other in love went unheard and unheeded.”
In his letter to cathedral parishioners announcing the hiring of Gosse as dean effective immediately, Organ said he appointed Gosse “mindful of the unusual circumstances we are in and to prevent the risk of hostility to any member of our cathedral who might have a direct say in the appointment,” without elaborating further. Organ did not respond to interview requests from the Anglican Journal.
Provincial House of Bishops advised Organ to resign
Edwards said in an Aug. 26 statement that by resigning, Organ had acceded to the advice of the provincial House of Bishops to retire Oct. 1. He said he had accepted Organ’s resignation, “wishing him well in his retirement,” and that an election would be held “in due course” for a new bishop.
After Organ ignored the metropolitan’s recommendation in June, provincial misconduct and safe church officer Jack Walsworth—who carried out the investigation into Short’s complaints—told the Anglican Journal that Edwards and provincial chancellor David Bell would decide the final outcome. Walsworth said he personally supported using the ecclesiastical province of Canada’s Canon 5 to launch a disciplinary process against Organ.
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