The Most Reverend Gregory Kerr-Wilson

Name: Gregory Keith Kerr-Wilson
Current Office and Location: Archbishop of Calgary and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights, Calgary

List of ecclesiastical offices held including dates (most recent to least recent):

Episcopal ministry:

• Archbishop of Calgary & Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights, June 2015–present
• Bishop of Calgary, September 2012–present
• Bishop of Qu’Appelle, May 2006–September 2012

Parish ministry:

• Rector of All Saints’ Cathedral and Dean of the Diocese of Edmonton, September 1998–April 2006
• Regional Dean, North Peel Deanery in the Area of the Credit Valley, Diocese of Toronto, October 1996–June 1998
• Incumbent, Church of the Holy Family, Brampton, January 1991–August 1998
• Assistant Curate, St. Paul’s, Bloor Street, June 1989–January 1991

Ordination information:

• Diaconate: May 14, 1989, Toronto, The Most Rev. Terence Finlay
• Priesthood: May 13, 1990, Toronto, The Most Rev. Terence Finlay
• Episcopate: May 23, 2006, Qu’Appelle, The Most Rev. John Clark

Other accomplishments:

It is always difficult to speak of ministry accomplishments as one member in the life of the Church. Christian growth, mission and ministry, in my experience, are accomplished by the working of the Holy Spirit through mutual and shared prayer and work. It is almost always accomplished by the exercise of the gifts and abilities of various people acting together in the Body of Christ.

In most, if not all, of my ministry I have been called into places of transition. That has meant either conflicted history that needed to be addressed and/or situations where things needed to be moved along into new or different stages of ministry and mission. Providing conditions for conversation, prayer, mutual sharing and then reconciliation in the context of worship, scripture study and ministry has been core in the work I have been called to do.

Besides parish and diocesan ministry, other contexts in which I have been and/or am involved in ministry include: Metropolitical Ministry in the Province of the Northern Lights; Council of General Synod 3(Triennia); Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee; ACPO Bishop; Ordinal Revision Taskforce; Coordinator for the Urban Indigenous Network; supporting the work of Bible translation into Blackfoot; President of Council – Emmanuel St. Chad College; board member for Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary, St. Mary’s University, Calgary, Sanctum Retreat, Entheos Retreat Centre; retreat leader in various settings; episcopal consultant – N. American Chapter, Oratory of the Good Shepherd.

Personal information:

I am a life-long Anglican who over the years has experienced various aspects of our Anglican family. From my earliest experiences of God in worship and in creation, to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, an experience of baptism by the Holy Spirit, in weekly small group Bible Study and community, through the exercise of various lay ministries, and then in theological and liturgical formation at an Anglican “catholic” seminary setting, I have received, appreciated and valued the various facets that make up the proper wholeness of our Anglican Christian faith.

My undergraduate degree in bio-resource engineering taught me to think in terms of “applied science,” which became in ministry for me a way of thinking about ministry as applied theology, in the various aspects of worship, pastoral care and re-shaping ministry in changing times in a way that holds true to the foundations of the received faith of our Church. When asked to describe my churchmanship I have often said that I am an Evangelical, Charismatic Catholic, with liberal and conservative tendencies. This reflects for me an understanding that the Church’s life and ministry must be a comprehensive and interconnected whole in which our life of worship, our shared unity in fellowship, our core teaching, our loving service and pursuit of justice in the world, and our proclamation of Jesus before and to the world are all interconnected and mutually inform one another; and that we must be a church which is both open and responsive to the changing context and needs of our world, while grounding our response to it on the faith and witness of scripture as we have received it in Christ’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I am married and have three grown children. I enjoy cooking, music and outdoor activities, including hiking, camping and canoe trips, as well as reading on a range of subjects from theology and spirituality to history and science—and almost anything pertaining to the Lord of the Rings.

A statement by the nominee of his vision of the role of the Primate:

I am convinced that it is time to change the role of the Primacy and how it functions within the Anglican Church of Canada. For reasons that involve both our understanding of episcopal ministry and practical matters involving finances and ministry focus, I believe it is time to recover a model of primacy that used to be in Canada and is to this day in every other Province of the Anglican Communion except the United States.

That is, that the Primate continues to be a Diocesan Bishop—participating in the day-to-day affairs of the ministry of the Church as a bishop and fulfilling the core ministries of a bishop in preaching, teaching, ordaining, confirming, and leading in mission—while taking on the role of convening General Synod, COGS, and the House of Bishops (much as Metropolitans do within Provinces), and representing the Anglican Church of Canada at Primates’ meetings and other required participation at the international level.

This would involve, of course, a careful readjustment of expectations — with a greatly reduced expectation of travel across Canada and internationally — and a sharing out of some ministry functions to other Metropolitans and Bishops according to the gifts and skills available.

My aim as Primate would be to spend the next three years putting in place the changes required so that at General Synod 2028 a new Primate could be elected to take on the role in the renewed model. I believe this would re-ground and re-focus the work of General Synod in the day-to-day ministry of the Church at large.

What is the most important challenge, and the most important opportunity, facing the Anglican Church of Canada today, and how would you address them as Primate?

At a glance, the ongoing decline of membership and attendance for the Anglican Church of Canada would appear to be the most important challenge for our Church. However, flipping it over, it seems to me that the most important challenge is actually re-learning, developing and deepening our ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ, under the guiding and empowering of the Holy Spirit—providing the means by which we first grow in our faith, and then grow in our witness—becoming ever more fully “salt” and “light” in our local communities as part of the local church.

The work is, of course, carried out primarily and foundationally in the parishes of Dioceses with Provincial and General Synods providing supporting roles. The Provincial Synods provide the means for electing and consecrating new bishops to lead in that work as part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. The role of the General Synod is to be a means of sharing resources between dioceses that have them and Dioceses that need them across the Anglican Church of Canada so that work may be carried out, as well as providing common foundations for dealing with issues of doctrine, discipline and worship in our context. The General Synod also provides communication and connection both across Canada and the more formal connections with the greater Anglican Communion.

The challenge then in our current context for the General Synod is to look at and make changes to the current structures and ways of engaging that ministry in a context of shrinking resources—including changing the model of Primacy which we currently have, to both funnel resources more effectively to the ministry on the ground, while also grounding the leadership of the General Synod upon the priority of supporting the work of parishes and dioceses where the most important mission and ministry of the Church take place.

I have many times in my ministry as a bishop quoted Jesus’ words “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”  We are not called to seek institutional survival and focus our energies on attempting to increase our status and influence as a church; if we seek to proclaim our faith in Jesus and his ways, and invite others into that journey, then we are accomplishing the purpose for which we exist as a church.

Our greatest opportunities include the apparent rise in interest in faith and spirituality amongst younger people and young families.  The ongoing work of celebrating and embracing the gifts of our Indigenous communities which are renewing and refreshing our understanding of our faith.  We are also being gifted at this point in time, it seems, with an increase of immigrant families who in many parts of our church are bringing an energy and faithfulness that carries much potential for growth and for enriching our lived practice of Christian faith.