By Sue Careless
THE ANGLICAN Church of Canada has elected a new leader – but not from among the original slate of four candidates. The Rt. Rev. Shane Parker, Bishop of Ottawa, was elected the 15th Primate of the denomination but in a surprise move.
Last March the House of Bishops had nominated four candidates from amongst its members: the Most Rev. Christopher Harper, the Most Rev. Greg Kerr-Wilson, the Rt. Rev. David Lehmann, and the Rt. Rev. Riscylla Walsh-Shaw.
The election was held on June 26 during General Synod’s meeting in London, Ontario. After the first ballot there was no clear winner and no requirement for the nominee with fewest votes to drop off.
After the second ballot, Lehmann, Bishop of Caledonia, dropped off.
At this point Walsh-Shaw was leading overall. But instead of proceeding with choosing simply from the remaining three nominees, a lay delegate asked the Order of Bishops to offer one or more candidates. The bishops offered Parker and his name was added to the ballot.
After the third ballot, Parker was leading and Harper, the National Indigenous Archbishop, who was trailing, asked to be removed from the ballot. After the fourth, Parker held the lead but still did not have a clear overall majority. Before the fifth ballot, Kerr-Wilson, Bishop of Calgary, asked to have his name removed.
At this point a clergy member asked for more names to be added but that motion was defeated.
Only Walsh-Shaw, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Toronto, and Parker remained on the fifth ballot and it was then that Parker won. He garnered 65% of the lay vote and 65% of the clergy. To become primate, a nominee must obtain a majority in both orders.
While the clergy and lay delegates were voting in St Paul’s Cathedral, all the bishops were sequestered in a nearby hotel and convention centre. They do not vote. Only when the election was over, did they arrive at the cathedral to celebrate with the rest of the delegates.
The primate-elect was born to Irish parents in Edmonton, Alberta, and lived in western Canada during his childhood. He has a master’s degree in sociology from Carleton University in Ottawa, as well as an honorary doctorate from Saint Paul University in Ottawa, where he has served as a part-time professor of pastoral ministry and chairs its Anglican Studies Advisory Committee.
He was ordained a deacon and months later a priest in the diocese of Ottawa in 1987.
Parker has served as the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa since 2020. Before that, he was dean of the Diocese of Ottawa and rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa for two decades.
As the Bishop of Ottawa, he appointed four indigenous advisors (Algonquin, Inuit, First Nations, Métis) to guide engagement in reconciliation.
He is a recipient of the Interfaith Ottawa Award, for devoted service to promoting interfaith dialogue and cooperation. He has close connections with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and has led many pilgrimages there.
Parker has experience and expertise in mediation, governance, strategy, and leading organizational change.
In a statement about his vision of the role of the primate he wrote:
“In the immediate future, we must focus on addressing the urgent need for major changes in our national structure, operations, and culture—a need that is expressed in the Creating Pathways document and our Transformational Commitments. To accomplish this, the Primate, as Chief Executive Officer of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, must embrace and exercise the canonical authority to govern our central organization and lead deep change. Especially at this time, the Primate must work intentionally to ensure that our central resources (including staffing, property, and financial assets) are arranged and used in a focused and efficient manner that suits who we are today.”
He continued:
“The Primate is called to be a servant-leader in this broader episcopal role: ensuring good order and right relations, enabling unity and interdependence, lifting up the Gospel values of peace and justice, and celebrating the diversity of our dioceses and Sacred Circle as we follow Jesus in our time. The Primate holds the authority to be a pastor to our bishops and to convene them, facilitating their discussions, enabling collegiality and mutual support, and encouraging them to seek the mind of Christ. The Primate must carefully observe and listen well to all the people and parts of the Anglican Church of Canada in order to connect us, to represent us, and to guide us in ways that are faithful, compelling and visionary.”
Because all bishops, including the primate, must retire at the age of 70, Parker will only be eligible to serve for three years, until the next General Synod in 2028.
In the office of Primate, Parker will have a persuasive voice as the “first among equals” in the House of Bishops but will not be a voting member. Likewise, he will lead General Synod and the Council of General Synod and be a member of every national committee, council and board, but, again, will have no actual vote. Parker will also represent the Anglican Church of Canada nationally and internationally.
Parker succeeds Archbishop Linda Nicholls who served from June 2019 until her retirement in September 2024. Anne Germond, Archbishop of Algoma and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, has been Acting Primate in the interim. Germond only agreed to accept the office of Acting Primate on the condition that she would not be a primatial candidate.
General Synod usually meets triennially but this year it met after only a two-year gap, in part to facilitate the primatial election.
Parker once wrote: “We find our true nature when we locate God’s love within us and allow ourselves to be guided by it in all we endeavour to do. To grasp this, however tentatively, is to receive a sense of hope and purpose that is alluring, affirming, and life-changing.”
The Primate-elect is married to Katherine Shadbolt, a lawyer specializing in family law and mediation. He has three adult children and three grandchildren. He will be installed during the closing eucharist on the last day of Synod, Sunday June 29 at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ontario. TAP
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THE ANGLICAN Church of Canada has elected a new leader – but not from among the original slate of four candidates. The Rt. Rev. Shane Parker, Bishop of Ottawa, was elected the 15th Primate of the denomination but in a surprise move.
THE Anglican Church of Canada has long affirmed its commitment to racial reconciliation. That commitment is evident in several ways – for instance, in the public apology to residential school survivors, accompanied by good faith attempts to ensure such historical errors are not repeated. Additionally, the Church’s leadership is trying to make governance structures more diverse and inclusive, as shown in some of the “pathways” that will be considered at this summer’s General Synod in London.
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