A Request for a Change in Pastoral Relations...

October 2, 2025

Dear Friends,

This is not my preferred method of sharing such news, but given the impossibility of being in-person in multiple locations simultaneously, and the need to coordinate the sharing of this information with others, this was the only option.

On Wednesday, September 24th, I shared with the leadership of the three governing bodies of the Collaborative and the Secretary of the Collaborative, as well as Julia (copied to the Pastoral Relations Committee of the Region), my request for a change in pastoral relations so that I may respond to an opportunity to serve with Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Waters Regional Council as Regional Minister for Pastoral Relations and Community of Faith Support beginning November 1, 2025. These individuals were asked to hold this information in confidence until now so that an announcement could be coordinated with Fundy St. Lawrence Dawning Water’s Regional Council.

In giving notice of this request for a change, I have asked that sixty of the required ninety days’ notice be waived, and, I have offered to provide Sunday Supply for the five Sundays of November, three Sundays in December, and Christmas Eve, as per the current Sunday Gathering schedule of the Collaborative. I trust this will meet with the approval of the Collaborative Commission and others.

I understand that this news may have you feeling further disoriented and overwhelmed, given the scope and volume of change we have all experienced, and the volume of change that is still ahead of us – it is for me! Such disorientation during periods of change is often inevitable. However, change also presents opportunities to remain still and trust that Divine Love is with us: with us in the presence of those who share our disorientation and worry and with us in the presence of those who are excited for new opportunities and possibilities.

It was important for me to provide this news at this juncture, so that you would have some time to begin to incorporate this new reality into the discernment about your congregation’s participation in collaborative ministry beyond the pilot project’s end date of February 2026. In short, I did not want decisions to be made based on assumptions about my continued involvement as part of the Ministry Team.

In closing, please know that this decision of mine is in no way connected to what I believe about the viability of any one congregation or the model of collaborative ministry. Quite to the contrary. I admire and value each community of faith for the unique expression of ministry that each offers to the larger world and I continue to believe that the Church will need to continue to find creative ways to have congregations collaborate and work together.  To quote our new moderator, “That idea of ourselves as big is not helping us today.” We need to get used to the idea of being small. And to be small and effective we need to work with others. 

I will be holding you all in care and prayer, and ask the same of you, as we all move into a future that is as yet unknown, but filled with the promise and possibility that comes with being a People of the Way of Jesus, living love in the world.

Faithfully,

Lloyd Bruce