Growing Beyond The Doors
First and foremost, Gray loves being a parish priest who strongly believes that the Church can and should serve all those in the neighbourhood.
As the Rector of St. George's in the Anglican Parish of The Blue Mountains, Ontario, Gray has led his community to grow in membership, new relationships and to expand their ministry presence in the wider community. In this role he serves on various Town of the Blue Mountains committees, is a regular presence in local retirement homes, administers outreach programs for seniors and school families and is well known as the "Town Padre", serving the local Legion Branch and various other service clubs.
Dr. Bowcott is also cross-appointed in the position of Coordinator for the Licentiate of Theology Program and Lifelong Learning at Huron University. This role combines his research interests in studying trends of Church Membership in Canada, enabling vocational leaders in the local Church and helping students of theology to access education, even in remote areas.
Gray is the Founder of the Saugeens Theology Series, a satellite campus of Huron Seminary that has been hosting residential courses for the past five years. His most recent work has been focused on introducing "Vocational Ministry Certificates" that seek to enable wardens, lay readers, parish administrators and potential postulants for ministry.
Lastly, Gray is deeply passionate about innovative approaches to evangelism. He has served as a pioneering priest in the historic reopening of a closed and deconsecrated church building: St. Anne's Mission in Port Franks, Ontario. He also introduced the first Regional Model of ministry in the Diocese of Huron: The Regional Ministry of South Huron. Continuing in his studies of congregational growth and practices of evangelism, Gray completed three years of research on growing Anglican congregations. His doctoral thesis is entitled "Bucking the Trend: A Study of the Local Theologies Contributing to Numerically Growing Anglican Congregations in the Diocese of Huron and Toronto."