Victoria Matthews

Infobox bishopbiog


name = Rt. Rev. Victoria Matthews
religion= Anglican Church of Canada
See = Edmonton
Title = Bishop of Edmonton
Period = 1997 — 2007
Predecessor = Ken Genge
Successor = Jane Alexander
ordination = 1977
bishops =
post = Bishop | date of birth = 1954
place of birth = Toronto

Victoria Matthews is Bishop of Christchurch in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. At her ordination to the episcopate in 1994, she became the first ever female bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada.

Matthews became a deacon in 1979 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1980. She served as an educator and a parish priest until 1994 when she was ordained to the episcopate. She was elected Diocesan Bishop of Edmonton in 1997.

In 1992, she sat on the Bishop's Court that convicted Fr James Ferry of disobedience for living in a domestic partnership with another man.

Aside from heading her diocese, she had sat on many important Anglican committees that have helped to decide the church's stance on issues. She chaired the Primate’s Theological Commission starting in 1996 and was reelected in 2004. She also chaired the Task Force on Alternate Episcopal Oversight, which studied the issue of same-sex marriage.

Matthews was a candidate to become Primate of the ACC in 2004 until she had to withdraw from the race after being diagnosed with cancer. She was renominated for the 2007 primatial election, which saw Bishop Fred Hiltz become primate instead.

Matthews is considered to be a theological conservative and on the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church. At General Synod of 2007, she spoke favourably about same-sex blessings on the floor and voted in favour of a resolution acknowledging that "the blessing of same-sex unions is not in conflict with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada", while voting against permitting such blessings.

On August 3, 2007, Matthews announced her intention to resign as Bishop of Edmonton effective November 30, 2007. Matthews was bishop-in-residence at Wycliffe College in Toronto, Ontario, from January to April, 2008. In February 2008, she was elected Bishop of Christchurch, in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/feb/22/3] She was enthroned August 30, 2008.

Education
* B.A.(honours) 1976 - Trinity College, University of Toronto
* M.Div. 1979 - Yale Divinity School and Berkeley Divinity School (recipient of the North American Theological Fellowship 1976-1979)
* Th.M. 1987 - Trinity College

External links

* [http://gs2004.anglican.ca/election/profiles/matthews.htm Candidacy for Primacy in 2004]