February 12, 1994 - Victoria Matthews

Anglican Church of Canada appoints first female bishop: Reverend Victoria Matthews. The Anglican church has allowed women priests since November 30, 1976. However, 1993 was a breakthrough year when Rev. Victoria Matthews became the first woman to be elected to the post of an Anglican bishop in Canada. The following year, on February 12, 1994, Matthews was consecrated as bishop at a service at St. Paul’s church in Toronto. Matthews was a distinguished choice. She’d graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1976. She’d also been awarded the North American theological fellowship at Yale University Divinity School in the United States, where she had graduated in 1979. In 1980 she had been ordained as an Anglican priest. Beyond serving her parishioners, she was actively involved with the Anglican Youth Movement and with groups creating dialogue between Christians and Jews. In 1992, Matthews became a member of the National Executive Council, subsequently known as the Council of General Synod. In 1997, Matthews made another step forward for women in her church when she was elected bishop of Edmonton, becoming the only female diocesan bishop in Canada. Two other women became suffagen assistant bishops: Ann Tottenham (retired in 2005) and Sue Moxley (still working in PEI and Nova Scotia). As for Matthews, in June 2007 she was nominated archbishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, to succeed the retiring Archbishop Andrew Hutchison. However, in a tight race that went to five ballots, Fred Hiltz, bishop from Nova Scotia and PEI, ended up getting the top job. There is only one woman in the history of the Anglican church to head up a national body: Katharine Jefferts Schori, who became the presiding bishop of the Episcopal church in the United States in June 2006. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.