Adapted from Bishop David Parson’s new series for Arctic Anglicans entitled “Equipped for Mission”

Most communities in the North have a Co-Op. A co-op is a group of people working together for the benefit of all its members and the wider community. Across the Arctic there are co-op grocery stores, hotels, insurance companies, and many other services. Many communities have a Hunters’ and Trappers’ Association, which is another sort of co-op that works together to benefit its’ members and the community.

Have you ever realized that a Diocese of The Arctic is a co-op? 49 communities coming together in one Diocese to share resources and support one another.

The role of Bishop is to be a servant who cares for the whole diocese. The Bishop and his staff are to be helpers and assistants, ready to offer advice or guidance to each church. Working together, united rather than divided, trusting in the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and remaining faithful to God’s Word, we will all be able to share the Good News of Jesus Christ far better than any one congregation could do on its own.

Arctic people survived by sharing their fish, meat, and birds with one another. We did the same in creating our Arctic ministry. Back in 1934, all the parish communities came together to form a legal corporation called “The Bishop of The Arctic”. They became a diocese, electing a person to serve as the Bishop, to be their chief pastor, guardian, and guide. All the parishes meet every 3 years for a collective governance meeting called a Synod. Each congregation elects a lay delegate to represent them, along with all the clergy who are active in the diocese. The Diocesan Bishop serves as the chair of that meeting. The Synod is the business meeting of the Diocese. Like a store manager hiring staff to put food on the shelves of your community’s store, the Bishop is given the task of hiring staff to help all the parishes do their mission and ministry, especially the administrative tasks that each parish couldn’t be expected to do on their own. The Synod Office & Your Local Vestry are on the same team! The Synod Office exists to serve and assist each parish in their ministry. The Synod Office (sometimes called the Diocesan Office) is the office that is here to help with your parish administration. It is located in Yellowknife, but serves the whole diocese.

Watch the video summaries on our Facebook page!