Melissa M. Skelton

Melissa Maxine Skelton (born 1951) is the 9th Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, a diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada, and is the 12th Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon.[1] She was the first woman to be elected a metropolitan and archbishop in Anglican Church of Canada.

The Most Reverend

Melissa Skelton
Bishop of New Westminster
ChurchAnglican Church of Canada
ProvinceEcclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon
DioceseAnglican Diocese of New Westminster
In office2014–present
PredecessorMichael Ingham
Other postsMetropolitan of British Columbia and Yukon (2018–present)
Personal details
Born1951 (age 68–69)

Early life and education

Archbishop Skelton was born in 1951, and raised in the US South, specifically, Alabama and Georgia. She came to faith in the Episcopal Church in her 20s. Throughout her adult life she worked in the corporate world as well as maintaining a vocation for ministry.

Ordained ministry

Prior to her election as bishop, she was Rector at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Seattle, Washington and also Canon for Congregational Development and Leadership - Diocese of Olympia, Seattle, Washington. Then-Canon Skelton developed a Congregational Development program that adopts the GATHER-TRANSFORM-SEND model and this program was established as the core curriculum for the College for Congregational Development in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, the college that she founded during her nine-year incumbency at St. Paul's. In the summer of 2016 the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago added the College for Congregational Development to its program roster. As of May 2018 the School is active in four Episcopal Church Dioceses in the United States and one other diocese in Canada, the Diocese of Ottawa.

Episcopal ministry

On November 30, 2013, Skelton was elected the 9th Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster: it was on the third ballot and by a substantial majority at an Electoral Synod held at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was consecrated and installed in Vancouver on St. David's Day, March 1, 2014. The consecration event was a three-hour liturgy that took place in different locations - the Vancouver Convention Centre, followed by a procession through downtown Vancouver and then at the procession's destination, Christ Church Cathedral. Skelton is the first woman, the first American and the first person to have had a career outside of the church prior to ordination to be Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster.

April 27, 2018, Skelton was named Episcopal Visitor to the North American province of the Society of Catholic Priests which at the current time is predominantly a group within The Episcopal Church in the United States.[2]

May 12, 2018, she was elected Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon; an office that comes with the title archbishop. She was elected by the members of the provincial house of bishops and the electoral college of the province on the first ballot. She is the first woman to become an archbishop in the Anglican Church of Canada. Archbishop Skelton was installed as Metropolitan on Holy Cross Day, September 14, 2018 during a Celebration of the Eucharist prior to the Opening of Provincial Synod in Sorrento, British Columbia.

She announced by letter to the Diocese on April 21, 2020 that she would be retiring as Archbishop on February 28, 2021, as required by the Provincial Canons, under which bishops must retire by age 70.[3]

Personal life

Archbishop Skelton married Seattle-based family counsellor, the Reverend Eric Stroo on August 15, 2015 in Cannon Beach Oregon (Deacon Stroo is also a non-stipendary deacon serving in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia and currently on loan to the Diocese of New Westminster serving at St.Michael's Multicultural Anglican Church in Vancouver, BC). She has three siblings: a brother in San Francisco and two sisters in Atlanta, Georgia.

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References
  1. Adeogun, Eno (14 May 2018). "First female archbishop elected by Anglican Church of Canada". Premier. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  2. "New Bishop Visitor". thescp.org. 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  3. https://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/news/archbishop-skeltons-retirement-and-episcopal-election, retrieved April 26, 2020
Anglican Communion titles
Preceded by
Michael Ingham		 Bishop of New Westminster
2013-present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
John Privett		 Metropolitan of the Province of British Columbia and Yukon
2018-present		 Incumbent
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