By Nompumelelo Moyo (LJI)
As the congregation of St Paul’s Anglican Church in Cote des Neiges welcome their new spiritual leader after the retirement of Archdeacon James Bennett, the CONTACT was privileged to get an interview with Montreal born Bishop Oge Beauvoir who has previously been working in Haiti expressed his excitement to be back home and working with the community.
With a career spanning over a decade, Bishop Beauvoir might be new to the congregation but he brings a vast array of experience in his calling both as a spiritual leader and as an administrator, which renders him more than competent to help the church meet the challenges of the future.
In addition to his church duties he has been keeping a full schedule.
Just last year he served as a member of a presidential commission on education in Haiti and he has been executive director of Food For The Poor Haiti 2015.
He also found the time to contribute to publications such as De l’ordination des femmes, Perspectives Anthropologique, The scripture of their lives and Transforming vision.
Assessing the task at hand here in Montreal, the Bishop Beauvoir says he will not underestimate the task at hand because he is aware of the big shoes he needs to fill and rather than being detoured by it he is motivated to work harder.
He pointed out that the congregation was very welcoming and given that he is certain they will work well together in realising the vision for the church.
When asked what his immediate plans were, Bishop Beauvoir said he wants to bring back the old congregates who left the church. One of the other reasons for the decline in numbers can also be attributed to the pandemic were church services had to go online but now post pandemic people are preferring online services to in person services.
At the moment however, the church is not offering online services. He says he’s hopeful that people will once again come back to the house of worship.
Bishop Beauvoir says he also plans to do a lot of community outreach programs to be of service to the people in the neighbourhood irrespective of religion or race.
“This is not to attract the people to join our church but rather to build communities with love and respect,” he clarified.
He also pointed out that the church has a lot of immigrants and wanted to tailor programs relevant for them.
“We need to address the needs and struggles of the immigrants so that they can settle in well,” says Bishop Beauvoir.
Montrealers are invited to a Breakfast on Saturday, October 15 at St. Paul’s Church Hall. It’s an opportunity to enjoy a meal, reconnect with old acquaintances and make new ones and of course say “hello and welcome” to Bishop Oge Beauvoir.
