By Stuart Mann
The election of a new suffragan bishop for the Diocese of Toronto will be held on April 6 at St. James Cathedral, followed by his or her consecration at the cathedral on June 22.
Diocesan Council approved Archbishop Colin Johnson’s request for an election at its November meeting. The election is necessary because Bishop George Elliott, the area bishop of York-Simcoe, is retiring in April.
Last spring and fall, Archbishop Colin Johnson held a number of town hall meetings with Anglicans, in part to discuss whether the diocese should keep its current configuration of five bishops and four episcopal areas or scale back to four bishops and three episcopal areas. The response was overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the current configuration.
Archbishop Johnson reminded Diocesan Council that Synod would be electing a suffragan bishop for the whole diocese, not just for York-Simcoe. “While it might be likely that the new bishop will go to York-Simcoe, it will depend on the gifts and skills of that person,” he said. Archbishop Johnson will make the final decision on where the new bishop will serve.
The diocese is made up of four episcopal areas—Trent-Durham, York-Credit Valley, York-Scarborough and York-Simcoe—each with its own area bishop, who is also a suffragan bishop. Archbishop Johnson is the diocesan bishop and has oversight of the whole diocese.
The diocese’s chancellor, Canon Robert Falby, has established a Nominations Committee and is calling for nominations to be sent to the Secretary of Synod. Any priest in the Anglican Communion who is at least 30 years old, has been a priest for at least seven years, and is in good standing in his or her diocese is eligible for nomination.
A Synod member may nominate only one priest, and each nomination must be supported by nine other Synod members in order for the name to be placed on the ballot. Information on how to make a nomination, including a nominations form, will be posted on the diocese’s website, www.toronto.anglican.ca/synod.
A list of the nominees, plus video clips and biographical information, will be posted on the diocese’s website on March 15.
