Canadians Choose Western Ecumenist
Episcopal News Service. July 10, 1986 [86147]
WINNIPEG (DPS, July 10) -- A 51-year-old bishop from Western Canada has been elected the 11th primate of the Anglican Church of Canada by clergy and lay delegates at the Church's synod, meeting at the University of Manitoba.
Bishop Michael Geoffrey Peers, Archbishop of Rupert Island, was elected June 16 on the fifth ballot to head the 900,000-member denomination. He succeeded Archbishop E. W. (Ted) Scott, who has held the office for 15 years.
"My main concern is that we show during adversity the same openness and generosity which we have often shown in prosperity," Peers said.
He listed Christian unity, interfaith understanding and proclamation of the gospel "free of many of the conventions and customs of a previous age" as among the major challenges he will face as primate.
Peers also said he would be prepared to consecrate a woman as a bishop, although as primate he will no longer be consecrating bishops. He opposes capital punishment, saying he could see Jesus as a victim of crucifixion but, "I cannot, for the life of me, see him as the executioner."
Although it took five ballots to elect him, Peers led the voting from the beginning. There were five nominees in all, selected by the bishops, who were sequestered in a parish hall a block from St. John's Cathedral. The bishops were informed of the balloting results only after Peers and been elected.
They then marched in a procession back to the cathedral, where Peers was greeted with a standing ovation and given assurances of support and loyalty from bishops, clergy and laity.
The Vancouver-born Peers is the first Canadian Anglican primate who can speak French fluently, a talent which could be an important boost to the church in Quebec. He received an honors degree in Slavic studies from the University of British Columbia and last year preached in Russian while visiting the Soviet Union as part of an ecumenical Canadian delegation.
He learned German while studying at the University of Heidelberg. He also speaks Polish and is learning Chinese "Just for fun."
He was ordained a priest in 1960, at age 26. He served in two Ottawa parishes before moving to Winnipeg in 1966. In 1974, he was appointed rector of St. Paul's Cathedral in Regina and dean of the diocese of Qu'Appelle. He became the bishop of the diocese in 1977, and in 1982 he was elected archbishop of Rupert's Land.
He has been appointed chairman of the ecumenical section of the 1988 Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade conference of the world's Anglican bishops. His experience in Russian and Slavic studies has given him a natural role in international Anglican-Orthodox dialogue.