I am pleased to announce that the Reverend Carl Fraser has accepted my offer of appointment as our next Vocations Coordinator, effective October 1st, 2024.

Carl has served as Rector for the Parish of Fall River for the past ten years and as an ordained leader in our Diocese for over twenty years. Prior to ordination, he held positions as a Lay Pastor in the Lutheran Church and as a Youth Worker in the Cape Breton and Lunenburg regions. Carl holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Atlantic School of Theology, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Mary’s University, and a Diploma in Small Business Management.

Carl brings considerable experience and gifts in the disciplines of discernment, questioning, curiosity, listening, and clarifying vocation. This comes from his own vocational journey and ministry, as well as his contributions as a member of Pre-Ordination Review (POR) committees, a supervisor with theological students and postulants for ministry, a mentor for the newly ordained, a Spiritual Director for Teens Encounter Christ (TEC), a certified Education for Ministry (EfM) Mentor, and a Regional Dean. Carl also has considerable experience supporting and empowering laity for the ministries to which God is calling them. He is prayerful and engaging and is deeply committed to helping people discover and explore how God is calling them to live out their baptismal identity as members of the Body of Christ. Carl is a collaborative leader, a thoughtful and clear communicator, a gifted priest, and a wise and discerning fellow traveller on the journey of faith.

Carl’s appointment comes after an extensive interview and discernment process during which we received applications from across Canada and beyond. I am excited to welcome him to this diocesan ministry and am delighted that this is now a full-time position. This shift reflects a growing interest in and discernment about vocations to a variety of ordained and lay ministry roles in our Diocese. I am confident that Carl’s gifts, skills, imagination, passion, and vision will serve us well in the years to come. Carl looks forward to joining our diocesan staff team as we support clergy and lay leaders across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in building Christ-centred, mission-minded, ministering communities of faith. Please join me in welcoming Carl as our new Vocations Coordinator.

+Sandra, Diocesan Bishop