Bishop Alan M. Gates issued the following message of gratitude and farewell on Oct. 10, 2024. In preparation for retirement, he will resign his office at the consecration of his successor on Oct. 19, 2024.
Dear People of the Diocese of Massachusetts,
As I approach the consecration of my successor on Oct. 19 and commit you to her gifted leadership and care, I want to express the gratitude which is on my heart for the decade past.
It has been an extraordinary honor to serve alongside the people of this diocese these past years. I have cherished deeply our common life and work together in this large, complex and wonderfully diverse community of communities. For the dedicated clergy, my remarkable staff colleagues and all the committed lay leaders around the diocese, I give God thanks!
I am grateful for the sacrifices you made during the COVID pandemic, and for the creativity and devotion you showed in responding to that unimaginable challenge–and indeed throughout this time of change and reimagining.
I am grateful for the esteem and affection you have shown to me as your bishop, even at times when we were all flying blindly together. I am grateful for the patience and forgiveness you have shown for my own failures–known and unknown, things done and left undone. I am grateful especially for the ways we have striven to reflect ever more deeply the truth that because we all belong to the One who loves us beyond measure, we belong also to one another.
Tricia and I will hold you in our deepest prayers as we begin a new chapter of our lives in Western Massachusetts. We trust you will likewise pray for us.
And now I commend you to God and to the message of God’s grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified. [Acts 20:32]
Faithfully and fondly,
+Alan
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates
Bishop XVI of Massachusetts