London
David Hamid — a former staff member with the Anglican Church of Canada — became the last bishop ordained by George Carey, the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, in October.
Bishop Hamid, who will serve as suffragan bishop in Europe (Church of England), was Canada’s regional mission co-ordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean from 1987 to 1996.
He became director of ecumenical affairs for the Anglican Consultative Council in 1996.
The Canadian primate, Archbishop Michael Peers, and Archdeacon Jim Boyles, general secretary of General Synod, were at the consecration as was Bishop Hamid’s former bishop, Ralph Spence of the diocese of Niagara.
There were also a large number of ecumenical guests, including two priests from the Vatican and a host of Orthodox prelates. The bishop of London, Richard Chartres, assisted and John Sentamu, the bishop of Birmingham preached.
About 30 Anglican bishops from England, Canada, Uruguay, Nigeria, and the United States were also present for the laying on of hands, with two bishops from the Old Catholic Church.
Born in Scotland to Scottish and Burmese parents, Bishop Hamid spent much of his ministry in Canada, and holds dual Canadian and British citizenship. He was rector of St. John’s Burlington, Ont., (1983-87), where he developed a mission congregation into a self-supporting parish.
Bishop Hamid’s post at the Anglican Consultative Council is being filled by another Canadian, Bishop John Baycroft until June 2003. Bishop Baycroft is the former bishop of Ottawa and one-time director of the Anglican Centre in Rome.
