Bishop Stephen Andrews, of the diocese of Algoma, says that as principal of Wycliffe College, he hopes to use his relationships with other bishops to build links to the wider church. Photo: Diocese of Algoma
Bishop Stephen Andrews, of the diocese of Algoma, has been named the next principal of Wycliffe College, the Toronto theological school announced last week.
“Stephen brings to the job an exceptional blend of scholarship, leadership and a deep experience in both the academy and the church,” Bob Hamilton, chair of Wycliffe’s board of trustees and search committee, said in a statement released April 21. “His leadership will allow Wycliffe to continue to bring innovative change to theological education.”
Asked by the Anglican Journal what had attracted him to the position, Andrews said, “I’m both a parish priest and an academic, and I’ve had a conviction that theology needs to be worked out in the church for the church, and that that’s the primary role of theological college-to prepare church leaders who can carry on the work of theology in the context of the local parish.”
One of his priorities as principal, Andrews said, will be to build links to the wider church-something he hoped his existing good relationships with other bishops would facilitate.
Andrews’ last day as bishop of Algoma will be July 31, and his first day as principal August 1.
Andrews, who has served as bishop of Algoma since 2009, is a Wycliffe alumnus, having received his MDiv there in 1984. He was ordained in Nova Scotia in 1986 and served as assistant curate at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Halifax, until 1990. He then completed a PhD at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Divinity in 1995.
This will not be Andrews’ first role in academic administration. In 2001, after serving as principal of the James Settee College for Ministry, a school for Indigenous church leaders in Prince Albert, Sask., he was chosen president, provost and vice-chancellor of Thorneloe University College, an Anglican-affiliated school on the campus of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. He held this position until his election as bishop, and continued thereafter to occasionally teach religious studies at Laurentian, with the position of associate professor.
Andrews has held a number of roles in church and government bodies, including prolocutor of General Synod, clergy representative to the Anglican Consultative Council and chair of the Ontario Provincial Commission on Theological Education.
Although a precise date for the election of his replacement has not yet been fixed, Andrews said, sometime in October is likely.
Andrews’ predecessor at Wycliffe, George Sumner, resigned last year to become bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Dallas.