Epiphany Blessing

Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?

Dear Associates and Friends,

This brings much love as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s coming to us anew this Christmas.

As you will/have read in our Newsletter: 2025 was a historic year in the life of our Community. We met together in person in General Chapter for the first time since 2018 and during the course of those meetings we discerned that God is doing a new thing in our Community (though one Sister remarked that we have been working at it for as long as she has been a member… which is over 25 years!)

This ‘new thing’ will begin at Epiphany 2026 and will take the form of a Blessing on a new kind of leadership in the Community. Rather than continuing to have a ‘Mother Superior’ at the top of some unseen pyramid, the role will be held by a team (the four Provincial Sisters), as an experiment until our next General Chapter meeting in 2029.

The notion of ‘Superiority’ does not seem to be consistent with the message of a God who comes to us as a tiny, vulnerable human being… nor of a God who dies on a cross for our sake. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and called on them to do the same for one another. It is our hope that this change in leadership structure will emphasise the mutuality of service which exists within our Community, and with those among whom we minister.

The service of Blessing will be an international event. The celebrant (in Christ’s Church Cathedral, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) will be our Chaplain General Canon Philip Hobson OGS. The Preacher will be the Bishop of the Diocese of Niagara (and our Visitor General) The Right Reverend Dr. Susan Bell. Sisters from around the world will participate. The equivalent dates and times in each Province will be:

• • • 6th January at 3pm in Canada

    • 6th January at 8pm in the UK

    • 7th January 7am in Australia and the Solomon Islands

The service will be available via Google Meet (live). If you would like to join us, please click the link for ‘Epiphany Blessing’ which will be shown on the day.

In many places around the world, and very much in the UK at the moment, there are ‘new things’ happening which cast deep shadows rather than bringing light to the world. People seem to have forgotten that Jesus was, himself, a Refugee. So let us pray for all those who are seeking refuge far from home… and let us pray for those who seem unable to find room for them in their hearts. At the same time, perhaps we could bear in mind the places in each of our hearts where there is ‘no room at the inn’… where the Christ-light does not yet shine brightly… and give thanks that God comes, ever comes… 

With every good wish, on behalf of all the Sisters,

Susan CSC