Bishop Chris McLeod laid up his staff as the Anglican National Aboriginal Bishop on Saturday morning in Adelaide’s St Peter’s Cathedral, where he continues as dean.
”Bishop Chris has been a courageous, outspoken, wise and diplomatic leader for First Nations Anglicans and will be missed,” the Anglican Board of Mission posted.
As he leaves this position of national leadership, he was presented with a gift that will be used by his yet-to-be-chosen successor – a cope, a long, flowing liturgical cloak or mantle worn by clergy during ceremonies.
This special cope bears words of reconciliation and challenge. Around the edge are the words “Whatever happened to love one another”, a challenge to Australians using the words of Christ. If we fail to feel the sting of these words, woe to us all.
The Cope has been sent from the Church of England to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council (NATSIAC) and is an extraordinary gift from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Stolen Generation Cope (pictured) was commissioned in 2022 from leading UK artist Terry Duffy following a visit to Australia by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Duffy has created a number of unique garments which bear witness to major landmarks of human endurance, tragedy, and moral courage across global history.
It came with this message from Sarah Mullally, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, delivered by Archbishop Ric Thorpe, Archbishop of Melbourne, on her behalf.
”I would like to begin my message to you by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which this momentous gathering is happening today. I would also like to pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
”I thank each of you for your presence today, and I am grateful to Archbishop Ric Thorpe for sharing these words, and presenting this cope on my behalf.
”I wish that I could be with you, standing with you on your land. I pray that I will one day have the opportunity to be with you, and to listen and learn from you.
“This gift was commissioned by my predecessor, Justin Welby, on his visit to Australia in 2022. The hope was to create a liturgical garment that honours the testimony of the First Peoples of Australia: a visible, wearable sign – bearing the stories, symbols, and the faith of your peoples, affirming that truth and justice must have their rightful place at the very centre of our faith, and our Church.
”In the intervening years, this cope has been carefully formed through the wisdom and witness of Bishop Chris McLeod, Pastor Ray Minniecon, Canon Glenn Loughrey, Aunty Dianne Langham, Aunty Rose Elu and all the members of NATSIAC.
”I want to honour what has been shared in order to create this cope – the sacredness of your stories, and the bravery and strength it takes to share them. They are stories of violence, dispossession, the removal of children, forced assimilation and the destruction of your culture. To our shame, the Church was implicated in parts of this terrible history.
”I recognise that these stories and experiences are not simply past. Their consequences continue to be felt across generations, in families and communities, and in enduring experiences of inequality, intergenerational trauma and injustice.
”As is written on the cope, we are commanded by our Lord to love one another. This commandment is at the heart of our faith, but it was violated in the treatment of the First Peoples of Australia. As we remember them, the cope invites us to affirm the God-given dignity of those whose voices have too often been silenced.
“Three other words are inscribed on this cope – Reconciliation, Justice, Truth. These Gospel concepts cannot be separated from one another. I pray that this cope will be a visible, sacred act of truth-telling, and that from this true justice, and true acts of reconciliation may flow.
“This gift, this gesture, will, of course, only be meaningful if it is matched by action. Please receive this gift as our commitment to walk with you, and to play our part in thisongoing journey of truth-telling, justice and reconciliation.”
The next National Aboriginal Bishop will be full-time and funded by the church across Australia through the General Synod. NATSIAC will lead the church’s discernment in who that will be.