On Sat. May 15, Bishop Larry Robertson was elected the bishop of the diocese of Yukon. His installation will take place Sept.18 at Christ Church Cathedral in Whitehorse.
Bishop Robertson has served as suffragan bishop in the western region of the diocese of the Arctic for 11 years. “It’s an exciting time and I’m looking forward to it,” he said. He and his wife, Sheila, will move from Yellowknife to Whitehorse. “It’s going to be a vast learning time for me…,” he added.
Having spent almost all of his 34 years of ministry in the diocese of the Arctic, he is able to conduct services in several dialects of Inuktitut. Now he would like to learn to speak some of the six or seven First Nations languages and dialects spoken in the Yukon. “At 55 or 56 [years of age], I’m not going to become fluent in any of them, but to be able say some of the basic things…is important for me,” he said.
Bishop Robertson says that although he has never worked in the Yukon, “we have a lot of similarities. We’re both northern communities. We’re both Council of the North. For 10 years when I was in Inuvik we did a lot of work with the Gwich’in people who go right over to the northern Yukon. At the request of the bishop, I taught at their bishop’s school, which is a school for lay ministry. So we have a lot of connections. I have a lot of friends there.”
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