After years of working for IBM, I noticed that when executives were fired the favourite euphemism used was “so and so is seeking employment opportunities elsewhere”. When minions were fired, they were aiding in “right-sizing”. A manager who had no minions was a “free floating apex” who would soon be floating out the door.

Church euphemisms bandied around at such times include “prayerful discernment”, “a change coming”, “calling me out”, “called into places and called out of places”.

And they are all here. Not that I am hinting that Alexander was fired: you can’t fire a bishop. If you could there wouldn’t be any. She has probably just finished reading the Anglican Church attendance statistics.

Bishop Jane Alexander, bishop of the diocese of Edmonton, says she will be stepping down from her position July 31, with “no idea” what she will be doing next.

“I have no need to say, ‘What’s the next big thing?’ The big thing is always just serving Jesus wherever he puts you,” says Alexander. “So, I know that’s what I’ll be called to do, but what that looks like? I have no idea.”

Alexander announced her resignation in a letter January 26.

In an interview with the Journal, Alexander said that she had been feeling a change coming for a while. “Sometimes I think we think of discernment as something that happens once and then we go, ‘There, you’re done.’ But that’s never been my experience of it. I think we get called into places and called out of places, and I was aware…easily a year ago, that something different was changing…. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m actually being called out of diocesan episcopal ministry.”