Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights

The Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights, founded in 1875 as the Province of Rupert's Land, forms one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada.

Territorial evolution

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The territory covered by the province is roughly coterminous with the western portion of the former Hudson's Bay Company concession of Rupert's Land, as well as the North-Western Territory of British North America. It today consists of the present day provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as well as the extreme western portion of Ontario and the Nunavik area of Quebec. It also includes all of the territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

At almost 6.5 million square kilometres, it is the largest ecclesiastical province by area in the country, and was even larger when it was created. The Anglican Diocese of Moosonee was joined to the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario in 1912. The five dioceses in British Columbia were also originally part of Rupert's Land Ecclesiastical Province, until they became an Ecclesiastical Province of their own in 1914. Furthermore, the Diocese of Selkirk was part of Rupert's Land until it joined the British Columbia province in 1943, as the Anglican Diocese of Yukon.

In 2024, the provincial synod voted to rename the province as the Ecclesiastical Province of the Northern Lights.[1]

Dioceses

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There are presently 10 dioceses in the province:

Metropolitan

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The provinces of the Anglican Church of Canada are headed by metropolitan bishops, elected from among the provinces' diocesan bishops, who then become archbishops of their own diocese and the metropolitan of their province.

The current metropolitan of the Province of the Northern Lights is Greg Kerr-Wilson who is the Archbishop of Calgary.

Metropolitans of Rupert's Land

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Source: [2]

OrderNameDatesDioceseNotes
1stRobert Machray1875–1904Rupert's LandPrimate of All Canada, 1893-1904
2ndSamuel Matheson1904–1931[3]Rupert's LandPrimate of All Canada, 1909–1930[4]
3rdIsaac Stringer1931[5]–1934Rupert's Land
4thMalcolm Harding1935–1942Rupert's Land
5thLouis Sherman1943–1953Rupert's Land
6thWalter Barfoot1954–1960Rupert's LandPrimate of All Canada, 1950-1959
7thHoward Clark1961–1969Rupert's LandPrimate of All Canada, 1959-1971
8thFredric Jackson1971–1976Qu'Appelle
9thFrederick Crabb1976–1981Athabasca
10thMichael Peers1981–1986Qu'AppellePrimate of the Anglican Church of Canada, 1986 — 2004
11thKent Clarke1986–1987Edmonton
12thWalter H. Jones1988–1993Rupert's Land
13thBarry Curtis1994–1999Calgary
14thTom Morgan2000–2003Saskatoon
15thJohn Clarke2003–2008Athabasca
16thDavid Ashdown2009–2014Keewatin
17thGreg Kerr-Wilson2015-CalgaryArchbishop of Calgary

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "'God is saying, "See, this is something beautiful"': Province of Rupert's Land changes name to Province of the Northern Lights". Anglican Journal. May 31, 2024.
  2. ^ Metropolitans of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land
  3. ^ "Canada. The New Archbishop". Church Times. No. 3579. August 28, 1931. p. 231. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved May 18, 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
  4. ^ "The Lambeth Conference". Church Times. No. 3516. June 13, 1930. p. 750. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved May 18, 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
  5. ^ "Canada. The New Archbishop". Church Times. August 28, 1931. p. 231. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved May 18, 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
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