Victoria Matthews

The Right Reverend  Victoria Matthews
Bishop of Christchurch
Church	Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
In Office	2008 – present
Predecessor	David Coles
Orders
Ordination	1977
Personal details
Born	1954 Toronto
Previous post	Bishop of Edmonton

Victoria Matthews (born 1954) 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.

Life

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 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 influence 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. She 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. She was enthroned on August 30, 2008.

Matthews was Bishop of Christchurch when the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck, which seriously damaged ChristChurch Cathedral. Her handling of the earthquake recovery has been criticised by a senior church member as being out of touch with other church interests and the community, a view since echoed by many letters published in The Press. In December 2011, Dean Peter Beck resigned, with disagreement with Matthews over the future of the cathedral cited as the reason.

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, Toronto

External links

• Candidacy for Primacy in 2004

Anglican Communion titles
Preceded by Ken Genge	Bishop of Edmonton,Canada 1997–2007	Succeeded by Jane Alexander
Preceded by David Coles	Bishop of Christchurch 2008 – present	Succeeded by incumbent