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ABP ROBERT GOSSELIN INSTALLED AS METROPOLITAN PROVINCIAL ARCHBISHOP FOR CEEC CHURCH PROVINCE OF RECONCILIATION
International contingent gathered for investiture of Gosselin as Metropolitan Provincial Archbishop for CEEC's multi-continent province.
JACKSONVILLE, Florida--On the evening of July 9, 2021, Archbishop Robert Gosselin was installed as the new Metropolitan Provincial Archbishop for the CEEC.CHURCH's Province of Reconciliation. Outgoing Provincial Archbishop Charles Travis joyfully relinquished his role, even as he marked sixty years of full-time Christian ministry. Bishops responsible for CEEC jurisdictions in South America and Africa joined CEEC Bishops from the United States and a large contingent of clergy, as well as VIP guests from several other churches and denominations to celebrate Bishop Robert's investiture at the Church of the Redeemer -- Anglican in Jacksonville, Florida. "I'm grateful to Bishop Robert for all the work he has put into helping our Communion move forward," Abp Travis said, "and I am looking forward to see how God continues to grow the Province of Reconciliation under Bishop Robert's leadership. I've watched the Lord perfectly prepare him for this role."
Abp Robert Gosselin will now be responsible for leading the Communion's multi-continent province, which includes several hundred active archdioceses, dioceses, orders and churches in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Togo, Israel, Jordan and Pakistan.
"My first responsibility to the Province is to be a faithful pastor to the bishops, clergy and people," Bishop Robert said, "so that together we may all be equipped for our work in God's service and built up in the Body of Christ." But he indicated that a significant focus would also be to encourage greater work within the greater body of Christ. "Jesus wasn't joking when He called us to be one in Him; and we intend to be deliberate about joining hands with our brothers and sisters in Christ to advance the Gospel of the Kingdom."
GAFCON Chairman Abp Foley Beach wrote to Abp Gosselin upon his investiture, saying, "Congratulations on your installation as the Metropolitan and Provincial Archbishop for the Province of Reconciliation in the Continuing Evangelical Episcopal Communion. We pray God's blessings on your ministry and your service to the Church, that the Name of Jesus may be exalted, and many will come to know him as Savior and Lord."
The two bishops met in 2012 at Christ Church in Jerusalem as they were both at the early stages of their episcopates, and have been friends for many years. Many of the Bishops and clergy of the CEEC maintain individual memberships in GAFCON as the CEEC is actively pursuing a deeper and expanded relationship with both the ACNA and GAFCON.
Likely with an eye to his expanded global role, Bishop Robert committed to willingly serve in the councils of Confessing Anglicans globally as invited, and promised to diligently strive to uphold the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. Having participated in the historic meeting in Jerusalem in May of 2014 between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew, Bishop Robert has a unique perspective on the power of unity.
In COUNT TO ONE, his book on the topic of Christian cooperation for the sake of more effectively proclaiming the Gospel, Bishop Robert says, "We were created for differing roles and purposes in the Body of Christ; diversity is divine, it's division that diabolic."
The Province of Reconciliation is a jurisdiction of the Continuing Evangelical Episcopal Communion; a communion of the one, holy catholic and apostolic Church created by a convergence of the three great historical expressions of faith and practice which was once for all handed down to the saints: the Evangelical/Biblical, the Charismatic/Pentecostal, and the Liturgical/Sacramental traditions.
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