The Order of Bishops has chosen four nominees for this June’s election of the next primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.
They are: National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop Chris Harper; Archbishop Greg Kerr-Wilson, bishop of Calgary and metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of the Northern Lights; Bishop of Caledonia David Lehmann; and Bishop Riscylla Walsh-Shaw, suffragan bishop in the diocese of Toronto.
Archdeacon Alan Perry, General Secretary of General Synod, announced the candidates April 3, one day after the Order of Bishops held a ballot to choose the nominees.
Voting in the primatial election will take place June 26 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ont. during the next meeting of General Synod, with results announced the same day. The installation of the church’s 15th primate will follow on June 29.
Harper was a member of the Indigenous House of Bishops Leadership Circle, which drew up the founding documents for the Indigenous Anglican Church. He is from Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and worked as a medical technician before entering the clergy. Harper earned a certificate in Indigenous Anglican Theology from James Setee College in Prince Albert, Sask. and an M.Div. at Wycliffe College in Toronto. Beginning in 2018, Harper served as the diocesan bishop of Saskatoon until he was elected national Indigenous archbishop in 2023. Harper is the son of a residential school survivor.
Kerr-Wilson is the metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of the Northern Lights and diocesan bishop of Calgary. He was born in Winnipeg, grew up in Saskatoon and studied bio-resource engineering at the University of British Columbia before earning his M.Div. from Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary in Milwaukee. He was ordained a priest in 1990 and has served in parishes from the diocese of Toronto to the diocese of Edmonton, where he was dean and rector of All Saints’ Cathedral. Kerr-Wilson has also served as bishop of Qu’Apelle and was a candidate for primate in 2019 alongside former primate Archbishop Linda Nicholls. At that time, he identified Anglican education, missional development and deepening relationships between the Anglican Church of Canada and its Indigenous brothers and sisters as key ministry priorities.
Lehmann has served as bishop of Caledonia since 2018. He is also chair of the Council of the North and of the board of governors at the Vancouver School of Theology. Born in Toronto and raised in Fort Smith, N.W.T., he has a B.A. in history and religious studies from Camrose Lutheran College, an M.Div. from Wycliffe College and a doctorate of ministry in pastoral theology from Trinity Anglican Seminary in Pennsylvania. He was ordained and initially served as a priest in Fort Simpson, N.W.T. and has done parish ministry across the N.W.T. and Alberta. In the diocese of Edmonton, Lehmann co-ordinated licensing and training of lay readers, designing and implementing a new training program. From 1991 to 2010 he also served as an officer in the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve.
Walsh-Shaw was elected suffragan bishop in the diocese of Toronto in September 2016 and consecrated in January 2017, overseeing 57 parishes in the Trent-Durham area. She is Métis and grew up on a small farm before moving to study at the University of Toronto, earning a B.A. in French and then her M.Div. from Wycliffe College. Following a period of youth ministry, Walsh-Shaw was ordained a priest in 2001. She served as assistant curate in the parish of Maple and incumbent in the parishes of Minden-Kinmount and Bolton, all located in the diocese of Toronto. In addition to parish and episcopal ministry, Walsh-Shaw has represented the Anglican Church of Canada as a witness and ambassador to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has served with the Anglican Consultative Council and currently sits on the central committee of the World Council of Churches. She has been a member of the Jubilee Commission and the Primate’s Commission on Discovery, Reconciliation and Justice.
“The election of a new primate is a profound moment of spiritual discernment in the life of our beloved church,” Perry said. He invited prayers for members of General Synod in the three orders of Clergy, Laity and Bishops as they prepared for the discernment process. The general secretary also asked for prayers for the nominees, their families and dioceses; for the person who will be elected as primate; and for Archbishop Anne Germond, acting primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, as she guides the church in the months leading up to General Synod.
According to the canons of the church, nominees for primate must be chosen by the Order of Bishops from among its own members.
Biographies of each nominee and video of them responding to questions are set to be published April 11 and April 22, respectively, at anglican.ca/gs2025.
