Bishops eligible for nomination as primate: Province of British Columbia and Yukon

DAVID P. CRAWLEY, 66

(will not run)

Archbishop of Kootenay, Metropolitan of British Columbia and Yukon

A member of the national church’s negotiating team which hammered out the residential school agreement last year and acting primate since the retirement of Archbishop Michael Peers in February 2004, he became metropolitan (senior bishop of the ecclesiastical province) in 1994.

Since his ordination as a priest in 1962, he has served in the dioceses of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Rupert’s Land, British Columbia and Yukon. He has served as bishop of the diocese of Kootenay since 1990, incumbent of St. Paul’s parish, Vancouver (1985-1990), provincial secretary of the diocese of Rupert’s Land (1982-1985), chaplain of the University of Regina (1982-1985), and incumbent of St. Michael’s and All Angels in Regina (1982-1985). He also served as archdeacon of Winnipeg (1974-1977) and Rupert’s Land (1977-1981). His early employment included a stint as an interviewer and story editor for CBC in 1971.

He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Manitoba, a licentiate in theology at St. John’s College, Winnipeg, and a master’s degree at the University of Kent, Canterbury. He is interested in social issues and served on boards of the Edmonton women’s shelter, the women’s drop-in centre in Vancouver and as a vice president of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

An avid fan of the Montreal Canadiens, he is also an “obsessive” skier and a lover of classical and outlaw western music, Canadian poetry, and detective novels. He and Joan have three daughters.

WILLIAM J. ANDERSON, 54

Bishop of Caledonia

He spent 24 years as a non-stipendiary (non-salaried) priest in special ministry in the diocese of Caledonia before becoming its ninth bishop in 2002.

He received his bachelor’s degree in religious studies/philosophy at the University of Windsor in 1972. In 1975, he received a master’s degree in theology at McGill University and a diploma in ministry at Montreal Diocesan Theological College.

He was ordained a priest in the diocese of Cariboo in 1975. As a young priest, he assisted the rector of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kamloops, B.C., in delivering pastoral and liturgical services to the parish from 1975 to1977. From 1977 to 1997 he worked in various capacities with the government of B.C.’s Ministry of Social Services. As a social worker, he provided support services to wards of the ministry and liaised with public health services, mental health services, group parents, and foster parents. As area manager from 1988 to 1997, he was responsible for overseeing the delivery of child and family community services, income support programs, and services to people with mental handicaps in the Skeena/Stikine area.

TERRENCE BUCKLE, 63

Bishop of Yukon

He was a Church Army captain for 11 years before his ordination as a priest in 1973. He served as priest at Fort Simpson and later, as dean and canon at Inuvik, both in the N.W.T.

From 1982 to 1988 he served as priest and archdeacon at Fort Nelson, B.C., and as rector and canon for Yellowknife, N.W.T. from 1988 to 1995. He was elected bishop in 1993. He graduated from Church Army College and attended Wycliffe College, and took up ordination studies from 1966 to 1973.

He and Blanche have four children.

JAMES A. J. COWAN, 53

Bishop of British Columbia

The new bishop was installed January this year in Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria. Born in Saskatoon, he was ordained a priest in the diocese of Qu’Appelle in 1977. He received his master of divinity at Nashotah House, an Episcopal church seminary in Wisconsin in 1977. He received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Saskatchewan in 1975, and acquired a clinical pastoral education at St. Stephen’s College, University of Alberta at Edmonton, in 1976.

He became the diocesan executive officer for the diocese of British Columbia in 1997, and was Education for Ministry (EFM) diocesan co-ordinator in 1998. From 1982 until1987 he was rural dean of Wascana, Regina. He served as co-chair of the joint Anglican-Lutheran working group that brought about full communion between the Anglican and Lutheran churches in Canada. He has been a member of four General Synods. From 2001 to 2003 he was a member of a task force which supported the negotiations concerning the residential school agreement between the national church and the federal government and the schools settlement fund.

He and his wife, Annette, have two children.

MICHAEL C. INGHAM, 55

Bishop of New Westminster

The author of two books, Rites For A New Age, an introduction to the Book of Alternative Services, and Mansions Of The Spirit, an introduction to inter-faith dialogue, he became bishop of the diocese in 1994. He was previously dean of New Westminster and rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver.

He was thrust into the limelight when he authorized a rite for the blessing of gay and lesbian couples after a majority vote by the New Westminster synod in 2002.

Born in Yorkshire, England, he was ordained a priest in Ottawa in 1974. He received a bachelor’s degree in theology and a master’s degree in politics and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland while at the same time training for the Scottish Episcopal church. He took post-graduate studies on contemporary American theology at Harvard University. He also spent a semester studying Judaism at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

He has served in parishes in Ottawa, Burnaby and West Vancouver. He was the principal secretary to the primate in Toronto from 1989 to 1992.

He and his wife, Gwen, have two daughters. He loves sailing, golfing and cooking.

GORDON S. LIGHT, 59

Suffragan to the metropolitan of British Columbia and the Yukon

(not yet consecrated, therefore not eligible for nomination)

One of the newest bishops, he was elected last January to the position of bishop suffragan to the metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of British Columbia and the Yukon and is responsible for the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior (the group of parishes which once comprised the diocese of Cariboo).

Prior to his election, he worked as an administrative assistant to Archbishop David Crawley since January 2002. He served as principal secretary to the former primate, Archbishop Michael Peers, at the national office in Toronto from 1992 to 2001. He was the dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Kamloops, B.C., from 1984 to 1992.

He has also served in the dioceses of Edmonton and Rupert’s Land.

Born in Claresholm, Alta., in 1944, he was ordained a priest in 1969. He holds a bachelor degree in English from Carleton University and a bachelor of sacred theology from Trinity College in Toronto.

A prolific hymn writer, he is a member of the music group Common Cup.

He and his wife, Archdeacon Barbara Liotscos, have six grown children and three grandchildren.