The Right Reverend Michael Bird (born 15 November 1957) is a retired Canadian

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. From 2008 until 2018 he was the Bishop of Niagara in the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2016, the Anglican Church of ...

. Bird was born in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. Generally seen as a commuter suburb of Toronto, it is located on Lake ...

on 15 November 1957 and educated at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, he was ordained in 1984. He has held incumbencies at Burin, Newfoundland; St Paul's, Dunnville; St Cuthbert's, Oakville; and St Luke's, Burlington. He became

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of Niagara in 2007 and its

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

a year later. During his decade-long episcopacy, Bird led the diocese of Niagara in developing a new vision for ministry, advocated for equal marriage, and welcomed hundreds of Syrian refugees sponsorsed by parishes as part of the diocese's 140th anniversary celebrations. On 12 September 2017, he announced that he would step down on 1 June 2018. An electoral synod to choose his successor was held Saturday, 3 March 2018.

References

1957 births People from Oakville, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Anglican bishops of Niagara 21st-century Anglican Church of Canada bishops Living people {{Canada-Anglican-bishop-stub