Dear friends in Christ,
Welcome
Welcome to the new website for the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney! We are very thankful for the hard work and creative energy of David Rose and his team which has imagined this website and produced it. Now it is up to the people and congregations of the Diocese to use the website to get to know the Diocese better and encourage others to see who we are and what we are doing as the Episcopal Church in the north-east of Scotland and the Northern Isles, and to share news of events and people in the Diocese.
Ordinations
It is wonderful to celebrate three newly ordained clergy in the Diocese: the Revd Helen Randall, ordained deacon on 21 September, to be assistant curate in Shetland; the Revd Godwin Chimara, ordained priest on 30 September, continuing as assistant curate at St James, Aberdeen; and the Revd Ferdinand von Prondzynski, ordained priest on 3 October, continuing as assistant curate at St Andrew, Alford. Welcome to all three!
Bishop Dorsey
On 1st August I succeeded Bishop Dorsey McConnell as Acting Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, and I was relieved and reassured that he was returning to his role as Assisting Bishop in the Diocese. It has been a very great pleasure both to work with him, drawing on all his wide and deep experience as a Bishop and in this Diocese, and also to count him as a colleague and friend.
The whole Diocese and the Scottish Episcopal Church owe Bishop Dorsey a great debt of gratitude for his year of service as Acting Bishop, in which he steered the Diocese and its congregations through ongoing difficult times, and as a wise pastor and discerning teacher gave encouragement and support to so many clergy and congregations. And as Assisting Bishop he gave friendship and support to Bishop Anne before her suspension, and to Bishop John and me as Acting Bishops.
After such significant and costly service, it is very sad for us that Bishop Dorsey has decided that, from 1st November, he will lay down his role as Assisting Bishop, to spend a greater amount of time with his wife Betsy at their home in the United States during her continuing recovery from surgery. Bishop Dorsey writes:
“I have met so many faithful clergy and lay people, all doing gospel work in their communities, always providing quiet voices of hope and helping hands for those most in need. I believe, with all my heart, that this treasure will see this Diocese through her current trials and eventually bring to birth a renewed Church in Northeast Scotland. I pray for patient endurance in our continuing troubles, and I pray daily for the resurrection which I know in good time we shall see.”
As always from Bishop Dorsey’s words of faith and hope, I take great encouragement from what he says, and will greatly miss his support as Assisting Bishop. I am sure there will be opportunities for the Diocese and the Charges to express their thanks to Bishop Dorsey, and to give him and Betsy our love and best wishes for the years ahead, when it is very good to know that, part of the time, they will still be living in Orkney.
Please keep Bishop Dorsey and Betsy in your prayers as we say thank you, and farewell to them for all they have given us.
With warmest regards,
+Ian St Andrews
The Right Revd Ian Paton
acting Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney
