The Venerable Dr. Geoffrey Peddle, Provost and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s College was elected Diocesan Bishop in the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland & Labrador on November 16, 2013.
Bishop-elect Peddle was ordained a deacon in 1987 and made a priest the following year. He has served in various parishes such as Cartwright, Lake Melville, Arnold’s Cove, and Mount Pearl. He also served as the Diocesan Executive Officer with Bishop Cyrus Pitman from 2005 until 2009.
“My vision of Episcopal Ministry in the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador is of a ministry close to all the members of our Church in their cares and concerns. A bishop must guard the faith, unity and discipline of the Church while constantly reminding the people of the love of God. In Holy Scripture and in the teaching of our Church a bishop is referred to as both Shepherd and Pastor but I believe he or she must also be a “Father in God” (or a “Mother in God”), embodying all of the love and respect, mutual care and nurture appropriate to a family, expressed within Christian community,” he wrote in his Nomination Letter to the Synod.Bishop-elect Peddle was elected on the second ballot. Other nominees were the Rev. Gregory Mercer, the Very Rev. Josiah Noel, and the Rev. Canon David Pilling.
Quoting his hero Archbishop William Temple, he asked the Synod to pray for him and especially for the Church and the world.In his vision for Episcopal Ministry, the Bishop-elect wrote, “Bishops today should also embrace the role of teachers and be able to engage both the Church and secular society confidently, creatively and respectfully. Bishops need to know the Kingdom of God well enough to recognize and affirm it in the Church while casting a renewed vision of what the Church might still become."
Bishop-elect Peddle succeeds the Right Reverend Cyrus Pitman who is retiring.Image: The Most Rev. Claude Miller (left) congratulates the new Bishop-elect The Venerable Dr. Geoffrey Peddle (right). Photo by Sam Rose