Celebrating the Life of Bishop Fernand Cheri, OFM (former Episcopal Moderator of CCMA)

Bishop Cheri outside our former home in NJ

We received news on Tuesday, March 21 that the former Episcopal Moderator of CCMA, Bishop Fernand Cheri, OFM, had passed away. He was 71 and had been ill for some time.

You can read about Bishop Cheri’s legacy and areas of pastoral interest in this excellent piece from the Clarion Herald.

Having worked with Bishop from 2016-2022 through his role as the Episcopal Moderator of CCMA, I can attest that if you met Bishop, you instantly liked him. He was as authentic as they come, never overwhelmed by the weight of his role as a Bishop. His homilies were legendary, typically including some form of song. You became a fan of Gospel music in no time. Bishop’s collection of Gospel albums spanned in the thousands.

He was accessible, always quick to encourage and affirm while never a pushover. Bishop would tell it like it is but always with class and dignity. He was so kind. He preached with heart and lived with zest.

Two memories in particular stand out for me:

• A few years back, we hosted Bishop in NJ for a series of donor and campus visits. He and I went from place to place, meal to meal and person to person. He gave each individual 100% of his energy and each person left feeling better about the Church and about life. One day after a long series of visits, we came back to my house for a rest. I can still remember him at my kitchen table, scooping ice cream out of a container for my kids to enjoy. In an age when Bishops are often separated from the laity, he thought nothing of answering questions from some children about what it was like to be standing in the footsteps of Peter. Bishop was like that- very down to earth and very much aware of how the goods of the earth can at times bring people together. (He also loved fried rice as I discovered once in a Chinese restaurant)

• The aftermath of the death of George Floyd. Besides the Zoom calls that Bishop would host via CCMA to talk about race and division, he was always there for me with a quick call on the cell to discuss and follow up. His advice, as a Black bishop, to a white man, “Sit with the tension. Be uncomfortable with it for a while. That’s the way forward.”

Fernand Cheri will surely be missed as a Bishop but also as a former campus minister and a friend.