After ten years of leadership of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch Bishop Victoria Matthews will step down from the Diocese on 1 May this year.
Bishop Matthews describes her time here in Christchurch as “an extraordinary privilege.”
“I want to thank the people in this Diocese for their faithful service. This beautiful Diocese has been through many challenges brought about by earthquakes, wind, fire and floods. But through it all, people have been their best selves by helping others, working together and finding new ways of doing things.”
Looking to the future, she says, “I am going to take some time to reflect on what it is that God is now calling me to do. 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.”
Archbishop of the New Zealand Dioceses, the Most Rev’d Philip Richardson says, “I am deeply grateful for the courage and tenacity Bishop Matthews showed when she led the Diocese through a very challenging and unprecedented period”.