The executive director of the Anglican Foundation of Canada will retire August 31, 2010.
This is the second retirement for Dean John vanNostrand Wright. In 2005, he retired as dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, B.C., and moved to Bridgewater, N.S. He lived there for a little less than a year before moving to Toronto to take up his current position with the Anglican Foundation. He says his favourite part of the job has been “meeting new Anglicans and seeing old friends” during his travels across the country.
Last September, Dean Wright suffered a cardiac arrest. Although he recovered quickly and returned to work, his priorities changed after his wife and daughter came to him with a request. “They said, ‘We’ve followed you around the country for 40 years, and now we’d like you to settle down and spend more time with us.’ ” Dean Wright will move back to his home in Bridgewater with his wife, Mary.
Ordained in 1969, Dean Wright served as a curate and rector in several congregations in the diocese of Montreal. He also served as a senior curate in Christ Church, Guildford, England, and as chaplain and schoolmaster at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ont. In 1986, he was appointed dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton and, in 1996, moved across the country to be dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria.
Dean Wright says highlights of his time with the Foundation include establishing Anglican Foundation Sunday and launching a service that creates and administers trusts. The Foundation is currently searching for a new executive director. Ω
