After almost 10 tumultuous years at the helm of the Diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand, Bishop Victoria Matthews has announced her plan to resign on May 1.
“This beautiful diocese has been through many challenges brought about by earthquakes, wind, fire, and floods,” she said in a special edition of Christchurch’s Anglican e-Life newsletter. “But through it all, people have been their best selves by helping others, working together, and finding new ways of doing things.”
In a message broadcast to her diocese, Matthews said she is stepping down simply because she believes her Lord told her to do so.
“I’m not retiring and I’m not in ill health, I am merely following where my Saviour is leading me, wherever that may be,” she said. She was “happy the Cathedral reinstatement is going ahead. I am particularly pleased we opted to put restoration of our relationship with the wider community in first place.”
Archbishop Philip Richardson relayed the news of her resignation to the House of Bishops: “I know you will join with me in giving thanks to God for Bishop Victoria’s faithfulness to Christ and her personal courage and resilience through a time of unprecedented challenge in the life of the Diocese of Christchurch and of our Church as a whole.”
John Martin
Matthew Townsend is the former news editor of The Living Church and former editor of the Anglican Journal. He lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.