I’m writing to you today from Melbourne, Florida, where I’ve joined my fellow bishops from across the Anglican Church in North America for our semiannual College of Bishops meeting. This gathering (January 12-16) brings together more than 50 bishops for prayer, discernment and some of the most important work we’ll undertake this year.
This week’s College of Bishops meeting carries particular significance. You’re likely aware of the leadership challenges our Province has faced in recent months—situations that have tested our structures, our trust and our witness. While these moments are painful, they also present an opportunity for the kind of reform that builds stronger, healthier foundations for the future.
Our primary focus this week is advancing comprehensive reforms to our Title IV disciplinary canons. This isn’t merely administrative housekeeping but essential work to strengthen accountability, transparency and pastoral care across our Province. We’re also reviewing processes for how we identify, vet and elect bishops, ensuring that future episcopal leadership reflects the highest standards of spiritual maturity and integrity.
At the heart of this gathering is our shared commitment to reaching North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. We’re exploring how to better equip our dioceses and congregations to grow mature disciples and strengthen our ministries among the poor, the persecuted and the vulnerable. This is the “why” beneath all the canonical work—faithfulness to Christ’s mission in our generation.
These are serious days, and they require serious prayer. Would you pray with me? Pray for strength, wisdom, courage and unity among the bishops gathered this week. Pray that our decisions would serve the flourishing of the whole Church. Pray for humility—that we would lead not according to our own wisdom, but in obedience to Christ.
I plan to write to you each month in this newsletter. I won’t always write about weighty matters like this one, but my hope is that this becomes a space where I can share what’s on my heart, what I’m learning, and how you might join me in prayer as we navigate the joys and challenges of diocesan life together.
I’d love to make sure all C4SO’s parishioners and lay leaders have access to this monthly newsletter from me, so would you forward this email to someone in your church community? Thanks in advance!
Grace and peace,
Bishop Jeff