Lawrence elected archbishop of Ontario

Caleb Lawrence, bishop of Moosonee is the new metropolitan of the ecclesiastical (church) province of Ontario.

He was chosen as the province’s senior bishop on the second ballot at an election held Nov. 9 during Ontario ‘s provincial synod in Mississauga, Ont.

The bishop of Moosonee since 1980, Archbishop Lawrence began work as assistant curate of St. Donard’s Parish in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1964. From 1965 to 1979 he was missionary, incumbent and rector of St. Edmund’s Parish in Great Whale River, Que., diocese of the Arctic. From 1974 to 1975 he was canon of St. Jude’s Cathedral, Iqaluit, diocese of the Arctic.

He is a member of the national eco-justice committee, the national Anglican/Roman Catholic Bishops Dialogue, the Council of the North and the Council of General Synod. He is the longest serving bishop in the Canadian church.

Archbishop Lawrence, 63, was formally installed as metropolitan at a service in St. Paul the Apostle church, Toronto. As senior bishop he has jurisdiction and pastoral oversight for the province and presides at all meetings of the provincial house of bishops, the provincial synod and its executive council.

The province includes the dioceses of Ontario, Ottawa, Algoma, Huron, Toronto, Moosonee and Niagara.

He and his wife, Maureen, have three children.

Meanwhile, Canon Philip Poole of Trinity Church, Aurora, Ont., is the new suffragan bishop of the diocese of Toronto.

He was elected Nov. 13 on the third ballot by 703 synod members at an electoral synod held at Toronto ‘s St. James Cathedral.

Ordained a deacon in 1977, Bishop-elect Poole became rector in 1987 of Trinity Church, where he raised $4.1 million to renovate and build a new church.

He has also worked as chaplain of Trinity College School in Port Hope, rector of Christ Church, Stouffville, Ont., assistant curate of Holy Trinity Church, Thornhill, Ont., and regional dean of the Holland Deanery.

Early this year he was elected president of the international Compass Rose Society, the first Canadian to sit in that post. The society provides financial support for the work of the worldwide Anglican Communion, including HIV/AIDS ministries in Africa.

He has also been active in national, provincial and diocesan church work.

Bishop-elect Poole, 53, received a bachelor degree in music at Wilfrid Laurier University in 1974, a master of divinity in 1977 and a master of theology in 1988 at Trinity College, University of Toronto.

“I’ve got really mixed feelings today,” he said upon his election, according to the diocesan Web site. “I’m overwhelmed by the support of being elected, but I’m saddened that my dad’s not here because he was so excited about this election.”

Bishop-elect Poole ‘s father, Canon Maurice Poole — a priest for 60 years — died last Oct. 18.

Bishop-elect Poole and his wife, Karen, have two adult children — Michael and Christopher.

He will be consecrated at St. James Cathedral in February 2005.