Michael Stewart (born 1965) is a British-born Canadian Anglican bishop. He was consecrated in 2024 as bishop suffragan of the

Anglican Diocese of Canada The Anglican Diocese of Canada (formerly known as the Anglican Network in Canada, or ANiC) is the Canadian diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. Established in 2005, prior to becoming a founding diocese of the ACNA, it originated as ...

in the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba. ...

, where he serves as area bishop for western Canada. He was previously in parish ministry in

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropol ...

, where he participated in the

Anglican realignment The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episco ...

in the 2000s.

Biography

Stewart is a native of the United Kingdom. He studied for the priesthood at

St John's College, Nottingham St John's College, Nottingham, founded as the London College of Divinity, was an Anglican and interdenominational theological college situated in Bramcote, Nottingham, England. The college stood in the open evangelical tradition and stated that i ...

, and was ordained as a deacon in 1989 and a priest in 1990. He began his ordained ministry as curate at St. Paul's Church,

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, and then as vicar at St. Cuthbert's,

North Wembley North Wembley is a district in north-west London, England. It is located in the London Borough of Brent and is mostly made up of the 1930s Sudbury Court Estate. North Wembley forms the north-western part of the district of that is its namesake. ...

, for nine years. In 2002, Stewart and his family immigrated to British Columbia, where he became an associate priest at St. Matthew's Anglican Church in Abbotsford. Stewart is married to Marianne and they have five children. Around the time of Stewart's arrival in Canada, St. Matthew's delegates, along with delegates from eight other churches in the

Anglican Diocese of New Westminster The Diocese of New Westminster is one of five dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon of the Anglican Church of Canada. The current see city is Vancouver; previosuly New Westminster. The current bishop is the Most ...

, walked out of the diocesan synod and asked for

alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

in objection to the synod's approval of same-sex blessings. After the synod, a group of clergy dissenting from the synod's decision sought alternative episcopal oversight. After efforts to establish alternative oversight failed, in May 2008, Stewart and other clergy relinquished their orders 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 ...

, and St. Matthew's sought oversight from the

Southern Cone The Southern Cone (, ) is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bounded on the west by the Pac ...

and joined the newly formed ANiC. The church was involved in litigation over the ownership of its property; the

Supreme Court of British Columbia The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Court hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. There are 90 judici ...

(a trial court jurisdiction) in 2009 affirmed that the property belonged to the Diocese of New Westminster. The higher B.C. Court of Appeal affirmed the ruling, and the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

declined to hear the case, resulting in St. Matthew's leaving its prior building. After Trevor Walters was elected to serve as ANiC suffragan bishop for western Canada, Stewart succeeded him as rector of St. Matthew's. Stewart also served as archdeacon for the Fraser Valley area. In 2021, Stewart was one of two finalists in the election for ANiC diocesan bishop;

Dan Gifford Daniel Christian Gifford (born 1962) is an American-born Canadian bishop of the Anglican Church in North America. In February 2022, he was consecrated as coadjutor bishop of the Anglican Network in Canada (renamed since 2024 as the Anglican Dioce ...

was elected. Stewart was elected bishop suffragan in ANiC's 2023 election, and he was consecrated by

Foley Beach Foley Thomas Beach (born October 31, 1958) is an American Anglican bishop. He was the second primate and archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, a church associated with the Anglican realignment movement, and is the first diocesan bi ...

in Abbotsford on March 23, 2024.

Bibliography

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References

External links

ANiC staff profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Michael Living people Canadian bishops of the Anglican Church in North America 1965 births Alumni of St John's College, Nottingham English emigrants to Canada