Friday 4th October

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

Introducing the Assisting Bishop of Algoma – The Rt. Rev. Michael Oulton

Words of greeting from Bishop Michael

I am looking forward to the next 8 months serving as Assisting Bishop to my good friend Archbishop Anne Germond as she takes on the task of serving as Acting Primate for the Anglican Church of Canada. I can think of no one better suited to juggling the responsibilities of serving two dioceses, the Ecclesiastical Province, and the National Church than Archbishop Anne, who manages to take it all on with graciousness, candour and a deep faithfulness born of her love for Jesus Christ. It will be a joy to both get to know the great Diocese of Algoma better and to support Anne in her ministry as your diocesan.

It was my great privilege to serve as Bishop of the Diocese of Ontario from 2011 until 2023. Algoma and Ontario have long enjoyed a very good working relationship together. While Algoma covers a much wider geographic area than Ontario, we have a very similar demographic makeup, being primarily rural with small towns and cities. I was pleased to welcome a delegation from Algoma, comprised of your General Synod delegates, to our diocesan synod in 2018 with our delegates enjoying the hospitality of Algoma’s Synod in May of 2019. Last year, I travelled to take part in Algoma’s New Ministry Conference and Diocesan Synod, together with my good friend Archbishop Francisco DaSilva of the Southern Diocese in Brazil, who was staying in the Diocese of Ontario during his sabbatical.

While I am excited about taking on these new responsibilities (my daughter thinks I have a strange idea of retirement!), I thought it would also be good to introduce myself to you as we begin our time together. I am a born and raised Maritimer, hailing from the great Province of New Brunswick and spending my early years in the Village of Port Elgin, located a few kilometres from the Confederation Bridge to PEI.

I attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History in 1981. Following graduation from Law School at the University of New Brunswick in 1984, I was admitted to the Bars of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and conducted a general practise of law for five years. It would take too long to go into how I moved from the “law” to the “prophets” but in 1989, I answered a long-standing call to ordained ministry, attending Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto as a postulant of the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, graduating with my MDiv in 1992.

During my time at Mount Allison, I met and married my first wife Jeanie, who was an ordained Minister in the United Church of Canada. After serving a number of Pastoral Charges, Jeanie became a Correctional Chaplain and served at the Millhaven and Joyceville institutions until a cancer diagnosis in 2014 forced her to leave the vocation she deeply loved. Jeanie died in January 2019 following a four-year battle with that horrible disease. Over 38 wonderful years together we raised three children, Thomas, Sarah and Charles who are all now venturing out on their own careers.

Following ordination in 1992, I served as the Rector of the Parish of Alberton/O’Leary in western Prince Edward Island and where our first two children were born. I answered a call from Bishop Peter Mason of the Diocese of Ontario in January 1997 to serve the people of St. Peter’s Collins Bay, remaining there until 2004, when I was called to the Parish of Christ Church, Belleville and where I ministered until my election as the twelfth Bishop of Ontario in 2011.

I have been deeply blessed twice over, 38 years with Jeanie and now to have met and married Sophie Kiwala in July of 2020. Sophie and I were married by our good friend Bishop Susan Bell in a very intimate ceremony on Wolfe Island, just off Kingston, with the maximum covid limit of ten being present at the outdoor ceremony. Sophie served as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Kingston and the Islands from 2014-2018 and now serves as Director of Operations for MP Yasir Naqvi in Ottawa Centre. One of the best appointments I made as Bishop of Ontario was to name Sophie as Diocesan Coordinator for PWRDF, a role she loves and pours herself into in promoting the number one charity of choice for Canadian Anglicans.

Archbishop Anne and I have discussed how my role will be shaped over my time in Algoma. I will be serving on a quarter time basis and intend to devote one week per month, carried out in a combination of in person and virtual opportunities depending upon the responsibility booked for a particular month. We have looked at a wide array of possibilities for my ministry with Archbishop Anne and among you and I am really looking forward to getting started and meeting new friends and colleagues in ministry.

Please hold Archbishop Anne in your prayers as she begins the important work of serving our church at the national level and blessings to one and all in the ministries you undertake in service of the Mission of Christ