by connie Tabbert
Editor
WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden) — Bishop Michael Bird is the newest minister to St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Cobden.
However, that’s not the only Anglican church he’s a part of. Under the auspices of the Parish of the Valley, he is the lead of 15 churches encompassing 12 congregations throughout the area.
The Bishop of Ottawa asked Bishop Bird if he could create a new model for ministers in the Pembroke Deanery area. He would be the senior clergy for a team of four ministers serving the Anglican churches in this area, he explained.
The clergy in Parish of the Valley with Bishop Bird are Cannon Susan Clifford in Eganville; and Rev. Gillian Hoyer and Rev. Matthew Brown in Petawawa. The four of them serve — St. Augustine’s in Beachburg, St. Paul’s in Cobden, St. Patrick’s, Lower Stafford, St. Stephen’s in Micksburg, Holy Trinity in Pembroke, All Saints in Petawawa, St. George’s in Alice, St. John the Evangelist in Eganville, Church of the Ascension in Killaloe, St. John’s in Tramore, St. Thomas in Rankin, Church of the Epiphany in Barry’s Bay, St. Anthony’s in Whitney, Holy Trinity in Madawaska and St. Clement’s in Clontarf.
He noted on any given Sunday, there is a worship service at any time between 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For the Christmas season, Bishop Bird invites everyone to the Children’s Christmas Pageant and Eucharist at St. Patrick’s, Lower Stafford from 10 to 11 a.m. This service will be in place of the 9 a.m. Stafford service and the 11 a.m. Cobden service, he said.
There will be a Christmas Eve service at St. Augustine’s in Beachburg with Rev. Brown at 4 p.m.; at St. Paul’s in Cobden with Rev. Allan Studd, also at 4 p.m.; and at 8:30 p.m. with Bishop Bird at St. Patrick’s, Lower Stafford.
Bishop Bird noted the ministers in Parish of the Valley get together and talk about the parish and any concerns. Each of the ministers have different gifts to bring to the ministry, he said.
“We make use of the gifts and passions we have for ministry,” he said.
Each of the ministers are responsible for various churches, however, they also have a Valley Sunday, which means the ministers are shifted around to different churches. This allows the parishioners the opportunity to become comfortable with each of the ministers, he explained.
This past June, Bishop Bird stepped down from the Diocese of Niagara as he was ready to retire. Following his ordination, Bishop Bird’s first parish was in Newfoundland in 1984, where he remained for three years.
“The people there formed me as a priest,” he said, adding, “The people there formed us as a family.
“Even though we’ve been gone for years, the people of Newfoundland never left us as a family.”
In 2007, he became the 11th Bishop of Niagara, where he served for 10 years. There were more than 100 churches and more than 100 clergy under him. What this meant for him was he was more involved in administration and human resources than ministering.
“I was at an arm’s length in the life of the churches,” Bishop Bird said. “I was at one church every Sunday.”
When the opportunity arose to form Parish of the Valley, he realized it was an opportunity to work with the local congregations and people again. Since he and wife Susan had a retirement home constructed on Kameniskeg Lake near Barry’s Bay four years ago, becoming the lead clergy for Parish of the Valley fit right in.
However, he has been coming to the area since a child, as his family had a cottage on the Madawaska River and they spent many summers there.
Following in his father’s footsteps, the Birds had a log cabin constructed in the same area, and for 15 years that is where the family spent their summers.
When he expressed his interest in retiring, that is when he was approached to be the lead clergy in Parish of the Valley. It was a unique idea and he didn’t hesitate to participate.
He envisioned visiting people in their homes again, sitting around the kitchen table.
“I was looking forward to doing that,” he said. “It’s a totally different rhythm of life.”
He noted in Niagara he had a staff of 20-plus, while here he is on his own.
Chuckling, he added, “I wish I would have paid more attention to working on the computer before. I’m learning now.”
Luckily, he said, his son is a “computer genious” and is getting him up to speed.
He also receives clerical support from Holy Trinity in Pembroke.
“Every part of the parish has gifts and we share them all,” Bishop Bird said.
It’s expected this way of ministering will be adopted by more and more parishes.
“It’s wonderful to be pioneers in responding to the new challenges of ministering in the 21st century,” he said.
Bishop Bird said while congregations are getting smaller and smaller, he doesn’t believe there’s a decline in people’s faith. People have to start thinking outside the box – faith in God is not seeing people in church only on Sunday mornings. Society has changed and the church has to make changes accordingly, he said. People’s lives are busy and hectic and in most cases, both parents work outside the home.
“Weekends are different than they were 25 years ago,” Bishop Bird said. “We need to create an opportunity for people to come and to check-in in less traditional ways. I am looking forward to exploring that in Cobden and other parts of the parish.”
As an example, he noted there are so many churches in the area to minister to, that there are parishes who do not have a Sunday service, but the parishioners are invited to attend another church on the Sunday they have no minister.
He is hoping to reconnect with the parishioners by looking at ways of engaging with people in the community.
“We need to raise the profile of the church,” he said. “The church’s survival is dependent on the people. At one time, the people came to us. Now, we must go to the community and explore the needs that are needed.”
It’s important that people realize it’s not the church that has a message for them, but that God has a mission and the people need to participate in that mission, Bishop Bird said.
“We need to explore beyond the walls of the church,” he said. “Many people have the presence of God in their life and they just don’t know it.
“Some are not able to connect or don’t have a sense of experiencing that,” he continued. “Some people see the stereotype of the church – it’s a place where people come for a lecture and think that we have all the answers.
“We’re beginning to understand that the church’s work is to proclaim the world in God’s image and what He wants. We have to humbly go beyond the walls of the church and listen to the people, who they are and see how God is connecting to their lives.”
He recalled that Jesus walked among the people – and not exclusively religious people, but He encountered people where they were.
For more information on the Parish of the Valley, check out the website, valleyanglicans.ca
When not ministering, Bishop Bird enjoys curling, and once the busyness of getting the parish established, hopes to enjoy that sport in Killaloe. He and Susan also enjoy snowshoeing and jazz music.
