On April 2, 2025, the Order of Bishops met to discern the nominees for the election of the next primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. The next day, four nominees were publicly announced:
- The Most Reverend Christopher Harper
- The Right Reverend David Lehmann
- The Most Reverend Greg Kerr-Wilson
- The Right Reverend Riscylla Walsh-Shaw
Throughout April, information about the nominees and their vision for the office of primate was published on the General Synod 2025 website.
The Most Reverend Christopher Harper
Archbishop Harper is currently our National Indigenous Archbishop and Presiding Elder of Sacred Circle. Harper believes that at a time when many churches are facing financial difficulties, the Anglican church must remain committed to the historic office of primate, rather than pushing for a congregational model of self-governance. The primate provides a sense of unity for the Canadian church, and advocates for its unique context within the wider Anglican Communion.
“Our primate needs to be prayerful, supportive, enabling and approachable, with an open heart, listening ear, willing to take counsel from all experts within their field,” states Harper in his profile on the General Synod 2025 website. “The primate should also be fully human, acknowledging in humility that they will never be perfect, thus leaning on the cross, prayerfully guided by the Holy Spirit and going boldly knowing that the prayers of the church and body of faith are with and upon our primate.”
Harper sees change as both the biggest challenge and the most important opportunity facing the Anglican Church of Canada today. While change inevitably brings with it apprehension and uncertainty, Harper sees change as an opportunity for renewal and healing.
“Healing happens when we acknowledge that we are hurting and that needful change has to happen so that we might go forward together in peace, faith and hope. Renewal and growth of the church comes from faithful and bold proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ.”
The Right Reverend David Lehmann
Bishop David Lehmann is the bishop of Caledonia and chair of the Council of the North. Lehmann sees the primate taking an expansive view, and that this allows the primate to “serve a vast church while taking care to connect the common bonds.”
Lehmann believes the primate’s role is to “hold up the mission and vision of the church and ensure that they are in alignment with what we are doing,” and to have hard conversations with compassion and conviction.
Two focuses for Lehmann would be completing the Pathway’s process and the continued growth of the Indigenous Church. Above all, Lehmann wants to see joy in the church.
“Yes, these are days with many stressors and temptations,” writes Lehmann. “This should encourage us to rejoice always and show the world that what was old is being made new! God’s goodness cannot be denied, so I want to share that with all the world.”
Lehmann believes the biggest challenge facing the Anglican Church of Canada is “ourselves,” but that this is also the biggest opportunity. After all, writes Bishop David, addressing the reader: “You are committed to the life and mission of Christ’s church in Canada. You are awesome, and I thank God for you and all within Christ’s church. As the body of Christ, we need to celebrate the blessings we have and share them.”
The Most Reverend Greg Kerr-Wilson
Archbishop Kerr-Wilson is the bishop of the Diocese of Calgary and the metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Northern Lights.
Kerr-Wilson believes that the role and function of primate needs to change. He wants to recover a model of primacy — which once existed in Canada and that still exists in many other provinces of the Anglican Communion — whereby the primate continues to be a diocesan bishop. Kerr-Wilson would aim to spend the next three years putting in place the necessary changes so that at General Synod 2028 a new primate could be elected to take on this new model of the primacy.
“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,” states Kerr-Wilson in his profile for the General Synod website.
In a context of declining membership, Kerr-Wilson sees the most important challenge facing the Anglican Church of Canada as being “relearning, developing and deepening our ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ.” For General Synod the biggest challenge is to make changes to the current structures and ways of engaging in ministry as resources continue to shrink. He believes changing the model of primate will help funnel resources into ministry on the ground.
Kerr-Wilson sees opportunities in the increased interest in faith and spirituality among young people and young families, the contributions of Indigenous communities to our understanding of faith and the increasing presence of immigrants in some of our churches.
The Right Reverend Riscylla Walsh-Shaw
Bishop Walsh-Shaw is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Toronto. Walsh-Shaw acknowledges that there are many different perspectives within the Anglican Church of Canada regarding what the biggest challenge we face is and sees this as an opportunity to work together within the context of competing concerns. The role of primate, then, is one of nurturing diversity into strength.
As primate, she would champion “Creating Pathways for Transformational Change.” She believes this work will create connections across differences, by fostering relationships and supporting mutual flourishing. She believes the Anglican Church of Canada needs to have hard conversations about its role within Canadian society and that it needs to see competing concerns as gifts that bring insights.
The next primate of the Anglican Church of Canada will be elected from among the nominees at General Synod on June 26, 2025.
