Nominees for Primate

(Staff)  AT THEIR March 25-29 meeting, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada nominated five candidates for Primate from amongst their members. 

Nominated are: The Most Rev. Ron Cutler of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada; The Right Rev. Michael Oulton of the diocese of Ontario; The Right Rev. Jane Alexander of the diocese of Edmonton; The Right Rev. Linda Nicholls of the diocese of Huron; and The Most Rev. Gregory Kerr-Wilson of the diocese of Calgary and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert’s Land.

In his January 2018 letter to the Church announcing his coming resignation, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who has served as Primate since 2007, said that in making the decision he had spent “more than a few restless nights” but had “tried to abide by St Paul’s counsel not to be anxious but prayerful (Philippians 2:6).”

He looked forward to General Synod 2019, saying that he felt, out of a “deep and abiding love for our Church,” that he had a “solemn obligation” to see the Church through to the end of that meeting. In listing the issues he saw as pivotal, he mentioned steps toward “a truly Indigenous Church within The Anglican Church of Canada” and the “second reading of the amendment to the Marriage Canon.”

Of the five primatial candidates, only Bp. Kerr-Wilson had voted against changing the Marriage Canon at the last General Synod in 2016.

On July 13th of the upcoming meeting of General Synod in Vancouver, clergy and lay delegates will choose a new Primate from amongst the names put forward by the House of Bishops. The new Primate will be consecrated on July 16 at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver.   TAP