Click here to join a Listening Circle
Bishop Gary Gordon invites all people of the Diocese of Victoria to help chart a course for our journey together, now and in the future, as the people of God. Please read his pastoral letter about the Synod, below, and please also visit the new Synod website for more information about the process and how you can participate.
February 2022
Dear People of God,
A Listening Church in Communion, Participation, and Mission
In unity with our Holy Father Pope Francis, we have embarked on a special journey toward a synodal Church, a listening Church. Every person is invited to participate and contribute to a process by which we will chart a course for our journey together, now and in the future, as the people of God. Through careful listening and discernment that is rooted in the Holy Spirit, we will deepen our commitment to Christ’s mission as we journey together as Church.
This Synod is focused on listening, so we are better able to hear the direction of the Holy Spirit and accompany one another on the journey. It is a process of welcoming each person to express their experiences, sentiments and thoughts. As St. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.” (1 Cor 12:13-14). This is why we need your voice and the voices of those around you.
With great hope, I encourage you to participate and engage in our Synod Listening Circles. We want to hear from everyone, as it is through our listening and our sharing that we will seek to understand the will of the Holy Spirit for our diocese and our Church. In preparation for your participation, I earnestly invite you to reflect on these questions:
How is "journeying together" happening today in your particular church or community?
What steps does the Spirit invite us to take to grow in our "journeying together"?
Please, be a part of the conversation, so we all may grow in participation, communion, and mission.
A truly synodal Church walks together, side by side, along the same road toward renewal in the Spirit and the good of all people. This requires a great commitment to listen to the voices of all who make up the People of God, especially those who have been marginalized, and the openness to discern a path forward that prophetically enlivens the hearts of all.
Come, People of God, let us listen to the Holy Spirit and to the voices of one another.
In Communion,
Most Reverend Gary Gordon
Bishop of Victoria
