Canon Dr. John Gibaut, currently director of Unity, Faith and Order at the Anglican Communion Office, is to leave his current role to become president, provost and vice-chancellor of Canada’s Thorneloe University. Gibaut will take up his new role on June 1, after the next meeting of the Trienniel Anglican Consultative Council in Hong Kong. Thorneloe University is a founding member of the Laurentian University Federation on the campus of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont.
In his current role, Gibaut has been the lead Anglican Communion staffer on ecumenical dialogues with other church families. He has also been the lead advisor on theological issues and on inter-Anglican dialogue. He came to the Anglican Communion from the World Council of Churches, the international ecumenical organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Prior to these two international appointments, Gibaut was an administrator and professor in the faculty of theology at Saint Paul University, a bilingual institution federated with the University of Ottawa. From 1994 to 2003, he served as the faculty’s director of Anglican studies.
“I am excited to join Thorneloe University and live in the City of Greater Sudbury,” Gibaut said. “Thorneloe University’s innovative programs, including its school of theology, reflect the best of the arts and humanities. I look forward to meeting students and working with the faculty, staff and board of governors. I also look forward to being part of a dynamic community with a vibrant post-secondary presence. There is tremendous opportunity for growth with a global reach.”
Chair of Thorneloe’s board of governors Nicole Charette said, “We are delighted that Dr. John Gibaut will be returning to Canada to assume the leadership role at Thorneloe University. Dr. Gibaut has a wealth of experience as a university administrator and ecumenical leader in Canada and abroad.”
A priest of the diocese of Ottawa, Gibaut is well-known in ecumenical circles, having served on national and international dialogues and commissions. He has been a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada, the Faith and Witness Commission of the Canadian Council of Churches, the International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue, and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations.
He earned a doctorate in theology from Trinity College, University of Toronto, and has honorary doctorates from the Montreal Diocesan Theological College and Trinity College, Toronto. He has served as canon theologian of the diocese of Ottawa.
Gibaut has lectured in the faculty of divinity at Trinity College as well as academic institutions in Australia and the United States. “He has an impressive list of publications and presentations to his credit, reflecting his deep and diverse perspectives on theology,” Thorneloe University said in a statement. “He is a highly regarded scholar in the areas of ecumenism, liturgy, church history, historical theology and Anglican studies.”
