Born in Edmonton, Archbishop Shane Parker, elected primate of the Anglican Church of Canada June 26, is a former sociologist.
Emancipation Sunday, canonical changes and charitable donation drives: a roundup of other news from the Anglican Church of Canada’s June General Synod.
General Synod passed a resolution June 29 endorsing an open letter to the Canadian government from the Queer Interfaith Coalition, an organization which supports LGBTQ+ acceptance across different religious groups, which says it is “reclaiming the religious voice from those who have sought to weaponize faith [against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community].” The motion passed after some debate surrounding a clause denouncing “the damaging heresy that some people are more deserving of equality than others.” This statement, said an amendment members added to the resolution, would not be understood to condemn Christians who do not believe Scripture permits same-sex marriages.
General Synod has referred to the Council of General Synod (CoGS) a resolution which would significantly curtail the circumstances under which the leaders of General
Archbishop Shane Parker was installed as the 15th primate of the Anglican Church June 29 in a ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ont. Parker was elected June 26 when his name was added to the third ballot after members of General Synod called for additional candidates.
The first of these motions requests the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada to sign a letter from the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, a nonprofit that aims to rally civil society around the world to phase out fossil fuels. The organization’s faith letter, which General Synod requested the primate sign, calls governments to end expansion of coal, oil and gas production; phase out existing production in a fair and equitable manner, providing for the differing needs of developing countries and more dependent regions; and “ensure a global just transition to 100% access to renewable energy globally,” enabling all communities, including the global South, to flourish.
General Synod has voted to pursue the six pathways for change recommended by a primatial commission over the next triennium—and to allocate up to $2 million of unrestricted funds from General Synod’s Consolidated Trust Fund to do that work. Both resolutions passed with overwhelming majorities.
The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada has elected Archdeacon Tanya Phibbs, currently its deputy prolocutor, as its new prolocutor and Brian Lee, a lay member of General Synod from the diocese of Brandon, as its deputy prolocutor.
General Synod has voted to add additional advocacy, ministry and communications to the support the Anglican Church of Canada offers to migrant farmworkers. The assembly, which is meeting in London June 23-June 30, heard a presentation from the Rev. Enrique Martinez of the parish of Long Point Bay and director of the Huron Migrant Farmworkers Ministry, which provides meals, spiritual care, mental health support and bicycles to migrant workers in the diocese of Huron; and from Chris Sorio, a member of migrant justice advocacy group Migrante Canada and of the Public Witness for Social and Ecological Justice Coordinating Committee.
The orders of clergy and laity have elected Bishop Shane Parker of the diocese of Ottawa as the new primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. Parker was not on the list of candidates announced prior to the primatial election or on the first or second ballots of the day, but the Order of Bishops—which, according to church canons, nominates but does not vote for primatial candidates—added his name to the list of candidates on the third ballot in response to a motion from the Order of Laity asking for more candidates. He was finally elected on the fifth ballot, on which he appeared opposite only Bishop Ryscilla Shaw of the diocese of Toronto.
Archbishop Anne Germond, acting primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, addressed General Synod, meeting in London June 23-30, with a message of unity and anticipation of major changes. The time ahead will be one in which the Anglican Church of Canada is called to move forward into an uncertain future, she said, comparing the situation to that of the people of historical Israel returning to Jerusalem after exile. In doing so, she said, the church will need to be able to give up its internal divisions and see its way to cooperation.
A resolution to be considered at General Synod 2025, which begins June 23 and runs until June 29, asks the church’s governing body to examine allowing future primates of the Anglican Church of Canada to retain their roles as diocesan bishops or metropolitans.
Between 2014 and 2024, the proportion of students of European descent at Montreal Diocesan Theological College (often abbreviated as Dio) went from about 60 per
Like many Anglicans, I’ve been reciting some version of the Nicene Creed since I was old enough to sit through a church service with the grown-ups. And thanks to the smattering of church history I still retain from my time at Ottawa’s Augustine College, I have at least a basic idea of where it came from and what it means—a council of bishops from across the 4th century Christian world brought together by the Roman emperor Constantine to discuss the Arian heresy and nail down some specifics about the nature of Christ. But, also like a lot of Anglicans, I feel less sure about many things surrounding this foundational text which is a regular part of my worship life—a text which also marked the 1,700th anniversary of its writing this year.
Israeli soldiers once again attacked the Anglican-run Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza June 5, this time killing five people and injuring 30 more according to a release from the diocese of Jerusalem. Among the dead are three journalists and a father who was taking his son to the hospital’s surgical unit to treat pre-existing injuries, the release said. Four staff at the hospital were among the 30 wounded, it added. Another journalist injured in the attack is reported to have died since the diocese’s statement was released.
The nominees for primate share their assessments of the present—and their hopes for the future
Sacred Circle, the main governing body of the Indigenous Anglican church, will continue to give shape to the emerging self-governing institution when it meets this August 5-10 in Calgary, Alta.
National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper says key topics will include working out the procedural structures needed to put its founding documents, Our Way of Life and the Covenant, into practice; discussing an equitable method of picking representatives to Sacred Circle from across Canada; analyzing the funding available to the Indigenous church; and potentially even choosing a new national Indigenous archbishop.
The diocese of the Arctic has elected and consecrated three new bishops at its diocesan synod, running May 8 to 15 in Edmonton. Former Executive Archdeacon Alexander Pryor has been consecrated as the new diocesan bishop. Assisting him as suffragans will be bishops Anne Martha Keenainak and Jared Osborn. The three will succeed former Diocesan Bishop David Parsons and suffragan bishops Joey Royal and Lucy Nester, all of whom retired in 2024.
The church is approaching a time of important decisions—one which Anglicans can and should embrace with hope, Archbishop Anne Germond, acting primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, told Council of General Synod (CoGS) in her opening remarks March 7.
Friends and colleagues remember Bishop Robert Bennett, formerly of the diocese of Huron, as a caring, hilarious and deeply pastoral bishop who invariably put his relationships with parishioners first. Bennett died April 14 after a life touched by the love of his wife, Kathleen, their daughters Meghan and Jessica and countless Anglicans, an amazing number of whom Bennett always remembered by name, say his friends.