Bishop Launches Anniversary Fund

At the 150th Synod of the Diocese of Niagara, Bishop Susan Bell launched a special endowment fund to mark the diocese’s sesquicentennial. The 150^th Anniversary Curacy Fund will support the training and formation of priests throughout the diocese.

“This fund will make it possible long into the future for us to provide appropriate training for newly ordained clergy,” said the bishop. “We will keep building it all through this anniversary year - and beyond - because it is something that truly benefits the whole diocese.”

The vision of the anniversary fund is to better equip newly ordained clergy who would benefit by working alongside seasoned priests allowing for a focused time of apprenticeship, also known as a curacy. Not all parishes can afford a second priest; the bishop's hope through the fund is to provide parishes with financial support to underwrite the costs of training and forming new priests in a variety of ministry contexts.

“When your parish needs a new priest, with your help, I’ll be able much more easily to provide one who is formed and supported by the donations of many,” stated Bishop Bell in her charge to Synod. “That's our Anglican Church at its best!”

Donations to the fund can be made through a special CanadaHelps Anniversary Fund website.

“We will welcome, honour, and celebrate all contributions; I might suggest a gift of $150, or perhaps $1,500 in keeping with the 150^th anniversary of the Diocese of Niagara,” said Canon Drew MacDonald, stewardship, and campaign advisor. “Maybe some might even consider a monthly pre-authorized gift of fifteen dollars a month or even $150 or a larger legacy gift.”

Already there has been resonance with the new fund. Bishop Bell has shared that she was  “deeply humbled" by a quarter of a million-dollar legacy gift for the 150th Anniversary Curacy Fund. 

Equipping right-skilled and well-formed spiritual leaders has been a key priority for the bishop. “It’ll be here long after we’re all gone to ensure that parishes receive the best-formed priests we can muster.”

To make a donation to the Anniversary Curacy Fund, please click here. If you would like to make a legacy gift to this fund, or to the diocese in general, please be in touch with Canon Drew MacDonald at drew.macdonald@niagaraanglican.ca.