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Anglican Military Ordinariate seeks nominations for bishop ordinary

Candlemas, February 2, 2026

Dear Bishops and Clergy,

The Right Reverend Nigel Shaw has served faithfully as the Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces since June 2016 and will be retiring from that ministry this coming summer. The Anglican Military Ordinariate (AMO) is therefore presently seeking nominations for a Bishop to serve as spiritual head and pastor to members of the Anglican Church of Canada serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

The AMO is composed of all ordained Anglican clergy, and all members of the clergy of a church in full communion with the Anglican Church of Canada, enrolled in and serving as chaplains to the CAF. The AMO also includes all Anglican laity, and their dependent family members, enrolled and serving as CAF personnel, whether they are worshipping members of CAF chapel communities or not. Geographically, AMO chaplains serve wherever CAF members live, train, operate, or deploy—both within Canada and abroad. The Ordinariate currently includes 30 Regular Force and 18 Reserve Force Chaplains.

Though not a diocese, the AMO functions in many ways like a non-geographic diocese. AMO governance is described by the Canonical Prescriptions of the Anglican Military Ordinariate. The AMO has an Archdeacon and Canons (Chapter) from which is formed the Bishop’s Council. Geographic, scheduling, and financial constraints mean that not all canons sit on the Bishop’s Council though all receive minutes and are often consulted. The Bishop’s Council is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the AMO

The position of Anglican Bishop Ordinary of the Canadian Armed Forces is a half-time position, with commensurate remuneration and expenses. The AMO’s financial support is outlined in the enclosed profile.

The ministry of the Bishop Ordinary includes:

  1. Pastoral Support to Clergy and their families (50%). The Bishop Ordinary serves as an important link between AMO clergy and their home faith community within the Anglican Church of Canada. The Bishop Ordinary provides significant care to serving chaplains and their families.
  2. Liturgical/Sacramental Support & Telling the Story (20%). The Bishop Ordinary supports the liturgical and sacramental life of AMO ministry through visits to worship communities across CAF establishments. These visits include presiding at liturgies, preaching, confirmations, attendance at and participation in ordinations, as well as representing the AMO at episcopal ordinations across the country. The Bishop Ordinary tells the story of AMO chaplains to the wider church, reflecting to the Anglican Church of Canada the ministry and work of its clergy in the context of the CAF. The Bishop Ordinary also facilitates communications within the AMO, ensuring AMO clergy are made aware of the life and ministry of AMO chaplains across the CAF.
  3. Governance and Wider Church (20%). The Bishop Ordinary participates in the governance of the AMO and serves as the Anglican Church of Canada representative to the Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy (ICCMC). The Bishop Ordinary, as a suffragan bishop of the Primate, also undertakes episcopal duties as assigned by the Primate.
  4. Recruiting (10%). The Bishop Ordinary actively promotes vocations to CAF chaplaincy to Anglican Church of Canada clergy across the country. The Bishop Ordinary, as the representative of the Anglican Church of Canada to the ICCMC, reviews and endorses clergy files for CAF chaplaincy, a required step in CAF recruiting for chaplains.

Bishop Nigel Shaw will also be supplying extensive handover notes including day-to-day details of his experience as the Bishop Ordinary.

AMO Canon XI, s. 1 reads: “In order to be devoted totally to the execution of this particular and unique form of pastoral ministry, the Anglican Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Armed Forces should normally be freed from all other functions that imply the care of souls in other jurisdictions.”

The primary accountability of the Bishop Ordinary is to the Primate. Prior to being formally admitted onto the list of nominees, prospective candidates who wish to hold other employment if elected must declare this to the Primate, proposing how they would give precedence to fulfilling the duties of Anglican Bishop Ordinary. Ideally, they would include a letter from their Bishop or employer to confirm their explanation. The Primate will decide whether the prospective candidate’s proposition is acceptable.

It follows that if an individual, once elected, then decides to take other employment, they would require the prior approval of the Primate.

All candidates must be nominated by two members of the AMO house of laity and two members of the AMO house of clergy. Nominees must meet the eligibility requirements as outlined in canon XXIII of General Synod and canon IV of the AMO. Nominations for the position are now open. Nominations will close 4 March 2026. However, it is hoped that prospective nominees will engage the process as soon as reasonably possible, via the AMO Search Committee.

In your discernment and nomination of a candidate I commend to your reading the grid related to episcopal ministry competencies from Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (TEAC), as well as the enclosed AMO Profile.

It is our hope that the person elected will be:

  • A prayerful and spiritual leader committed to their own spiritual growth.
  • A theologian grounded in Scripture.
  • An able communicator and capable administrator.
  • A person with a passion for the Gospel and for ministry within the unique community and ethos of the Canadian Armed Forces.
  • A person willing to participate in gatherings across the country ministering to the members of the AMO.

Please direct all enquiries and nominations to the Chair of the Search Committee, Lieutenant-Colonel the Reverend Mike Gibbons [email protected].

We pray for wise discernment as the electoral process moves forward:

Almighty God, giver of all good gifts, look on your Church with grace, and guide the minds of those who shall choose a Bishop Ordinary that we may receive a faithful servant who will care for your people and support us in our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (p. 676, The Book of Alternative Services)

Yours Faithfully,

[signed] +Shane
The Most Reverend Shane A.D. Parker
Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada

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