TERENCE E. FINLAY, 66
(will retire in June)
Metropolitan of Ontario and Archbishop of Toronto
He heads Canada’s largest diocese by population. He has joined social activists in decrying poverty and homelessness in the city of Toronto, and has urged Anglicans in his diocese to write letters of appeal to the government to address these issues.
A native of London, Ont., he was ordained a priest in 1961. He was rector of All Saints, Waterloo, Ont., from 1964 to 1966, when he was also dean of residence at Renison College, Waterloo University and the Anglican chaplain at the University of Waterloo and Wilfred Laurier. He was the incumbent at St. Aidan’s, London, Ont., and the rector of St. John the Evangelist church, Brantford, Ont., and the archdeacon of Brant from 1978 to 1982. He moved to Toronto to serve as incumbent at St. Clement’s, Eglinton, from 1982 to 1986.
He was consecrated bishop in 1986 and appointed area bishop of the Trent-Durham episcopal area. He was elected co-adjutor bishop (bishop with right of succession) of Toronto in 1987 and installed as the 10th bishop of Toronto in 1989. He became the 16th metropolitan of Ontario and archbishop of Toronto in October 2000.
He received a bachelor’s degree at the University of Western Ontario in 1959, a bachelor of theology at Huron College, and a master’s degree at Cambridge University. He was granted an honorary doctor of divinity from Huron, Wycliffe and Trinity colleges in 1987, 1988 and 1989 respectively.
He and his wife, Alice Jean, have two grown daughters. He has announced that he will retire on June 11.
MICHAEL H.H. BEDFORD-JONES
Area Bishop, York-Scarborough
Born in Toronto, he attended Trinity College, University of Toronto and was ordained a priest in 1968. He was executive assistant to the bishop of Toronto from 1988 to 1991, after which he became incumbent of St. George’s Cathedral, in Kingston, Ont., dean of Ontario and rector of Kingston.
He was elected suffragan bishop of Toronto in 1993 and was consecrated bishop in 1994, and installed as area bishop of York-Scarborough that same year.
ROBERT F. BENNETT, 54
Suffragan Bishop, Huron
He received his master of divinity degree from Huron Colege, London, Ont., in 1974, the same year as his ordination to the diaconate. Priested in 1975, he served as rector at several parishes and as a territorial archdeacon in the diocese of Huron before he was elected suffragan bishop of the diocese in 2002. He has served on several diocesan boards and committees. He and his wife, Kathleen, have two daughters.
GEORGE L.R. BRUCE, 61
Bishop of Ontario
Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England in 1942, he moved with his family to the United States in 1953 and to Canada in 1958.
A graduate of the Royal Military College with an honours degree in history, he attended the Canadian Land Forces command and Staff College in 1969 and served as staff officer at a number of locations in Canada and the United Kingdom. While serving in the military, he studied theology and graduated from Montreal Diocesan College. He received an honorary doctor of divinity from his alma mater in 2003.
After 27 years, he retired from the Armed Forces with the rank of colonel and was priested in 1987. Following his ordination, he re-enrolled in the militia (reserves) and was regimental chaplain to the governor general’s foot guards until 1997.
He served as rector of St. James the Apostle in Perth, Ont., and at two parishes in the diocese of Ottawa. A member of the Order of St. Luke, he has been active in healing ministry.
He has been a member of the doctrine and worship commission, the synod management committee, and the diocesan executive committee. He was consecrated a bishop in 2002 at St. George’s Cathedral in Kingston, Ont., where he served as an incumbent.
He and his wife, Theo, have five children.
PETER R. COFFIN, 58
Bishop of Ottawa
This avid gardener, historian, fisherman, naturalist, canoeist and “exercise freak” has many other passions. They include multiculturalism, relations with the peoples of the First Nations and human rights.
Ordained in 1971, his ministry has taken him to many parishes in Canada and abroad. After a stint as assistant curate of St. Matthews, Ottawa, he and his wife Deborah spent three years in the diocese of Kuching, in the Malaysian state of Sarawak ( Borneo), where he taught biblical theology. He became the incumbent of the parish of Hull, Que., where he was one of the founders of the francophone parish of St. Bernard de Clairvaux. He has served the parish of Christ Church, Bell’s Corners in Nepean, Ont., was archdeacon of Western Quebec and of Carleton, rector of Christ Church Cathedral and dean of Ottawa, where he served for nine years before becoming bishop in 1999
He received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of King’s College at Dalhousie University in Halifax, a bachelor of sacred theology at Trinity College, Toronto, and a master’s degree in international affairs at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University in Ottawa. The University of King’s College honoured him with a doctor of divinity in 1997, the same year he served with the militia (Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa) and was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Army Chaplain’s Corps under the aegis of the Canadian Officer’s Training Corps.
He and his wife have one daughter.
GEORGE H. ELLIOTT, 55
Area Bishop, York-Simcoe
He was elected bishop in December 2000 and was consecrated area bishop of York-Simcoe in 2001.
Born in 1949, he received his master of divinity degree from Wycliffe College and the Toronto School of Theology in 1979. Priested in 1980, he has served various parishes in the diocese of Toronto, including All Saints, King City and St. Stephens, Maple, Ont. He also served as regional dean and has been active on a number of diocesan committees and community activities.
RONALD C. FERRIS, 58
Bishop of Algoma
Before becoming the ninth bishop of Algoma, Ont., in 1995, he served as bishop of the diocese of Yukon from 1981 to 1995. There he established the Bishop’s School for Native Ministry and was pilot of the diocesan Cessna aircraft.
After graduating from Toronto Teacher’s College in 1965 he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1969 at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. He graduated with honours from Huron College, London, Ont., where he earned a master of divinity degree in 1973. He has also studied with the Vancouver School of Theology. In 1995, he completed his doctor of ministry program at the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, Calif.
His area of expertise is episcopacy and transition into episcopacy, with course work in Anglican theology, contextual theology, and the church and law.
He and his wife, Janet, have participated in CANADopt, which assists adoptive families to complete overseas adoption. They have six children, all adopted and have also been foster parents in Ontario and Yukon.
BRUCE H.W. HOWE
Bishop of Huron
He began his ministry in the early ’70s at the diocese of Toronto where he was director of social services at the Fred Victor Mission, a position that involved serving the poor and homeless of the city. In 2000, he became the 11th bishop of Huron. Before that he was the dean of Huron and rector of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ont., where he continued the historic church’s tradition of helping refugees. In the 19th century St. Paul’s had provided sanctuary to American slaves. In 1998, under his leadership, the same church provided legal sanctuary to a family of Iranian refugees who are now weekly parishioners.
He received an honorary doctor of divinity from Huron College in 1999 and his master of sacred letters and bachelor’s degree from University of King’s College in 1970 and 1967, respectively. He has attended study programs in Cuba, Switzerland, Germany and Chicago. He also taught for several years a university credit course, The Bible in Dialogue with our Post-Modern Generation, and facilitated numerous workshops and seminars for parishes and regional events. He and his wife, Jane, have four daughters.
COLIN R. JOHNSON, 51
Area Bishop, Trent-Durham
He was consecrated bishop in 2003.
He was educated at the University of Western Ontario and received his master of divinity degree from Trinity College in 1977. Ordained to the priesthood in 1978, he has served a number of parishes in the diocese of Toronto before becoming executive assistant to the diocesan bishop in 1992, and archdeacon of York in 1994. He and his wife, Ellen, have three grown children.
CALEB J. LAWRENCE, 62
Bishop of Moosonee
He heads the diocese which covers the second largest land area (next to the diocese of the Arctic), and where about half of the parishioners are indigenous Canadians, mainly of the Cree nation.
Ordained a priest in 1965, he served from 1974 to 1975 as canon of the Cathedral of St. Jude and from 1975 to 1979 as archdeacon of the diocese of the Arctic. From 1965 to 1979, he served at St. Edmund’s parish, Great Whale River, Que. He was consecrated as bishop in 1980. He obtained a bachelor of arts degree, a bachelor of sacred theology and an honorary doctorate in divinity from the University of King’s College, Halifax.
Strong supportive the inclusion of aboriginal people in the life of the Anglican Church of Canada, he has been liaison from the Council of the North to the Council for Native Ministries.
He spends his spare time cross-country skiing and reading. He and his wife, Maureen, have three children.
D. RALPH SPENCE, 62
Bishop of Niagara
He has the largest personal flag collection in North America and is Canada’s leading specialist in vexillology, or the science of flags. He has designed many flags for municipalities and governments and recently co-authored a book for the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Flags of Canada. He was also the museum’s curator for a display commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Maple Leaf flag.
He has served as archdeacon of Trafalgar region, priest-in-charge at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, honorary canon at Christ’s Church Cathedral, Hamilton, Ont., rector at St. Bartholomew’s, Hamilton, rector at St. Luke’s Burlington,and assistant curate at St. George’s, Guelph, Ont. He was elected co-adjutor bishop in 1997.
He received a bachelor’s degree at Hamilton’s McMaster University in 1964 and a licentiate in theology at Wycliffe College in Toronto in 1968. He has received an honorary doctor of divinity from Wycliffe College and Trinity College.
He was awarded the Queen’s silver jubilee medal in 1977 and 2002, and Canada’s 125th medal in 1992.
He and his wife, Carol Anne, have three children.
ANN ELIZABETH TOTTENHAM, 63
Area Bishop, Credit Valley
She became the second woman bishop in the Canadian Anglican church and the 10th woman bishop in the Anglican Communion in 1997.
Born in Kingston, Ont., in 1940, she earned her bachelor of arts and bachelor of education degrees from the University of Toronto. She earned her bachelor of sacred theology from Trinity College in 1965, and her master of sacred theology from Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1970. She was given an honorary doctor of divinity degree by Trinity College in 1995.