National Indigenous Archbishop Chris Harper will visit the Diocese of Fredericton in September this year and will preach at the Cathedral at 10:30 a.m. on 15 September.

The Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples of the Anglican Church of Canada began the search for the National Indigenous Anglican Bishop (NIAB) in 2005. appointing the first in the spring of 2007 with the installation held during the General Synod of 2007 in Winnipeg. The Elder’s of Indigenous Ministry gave the Archbishop five charges:

1. 1. To speak for Indigenous Anglican People in the Councils of the Church
   2. To interpret what the Councils of the Church are saying to Indigenous people
   3. To be a spokesperson for Mother Earth
   4. To act as a midwife for a self-determining Indigenous Church
   5. To represent the authority of Indigenous identity within the Anglican Church of Canada

The national Indigenous Anglican archbishop is the presiding elder of the Sacred Circle. Indigenous Ministries of the General Synod supports the Indigenous Peoples of Canada (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) spiritually, socially, economically and politically recognizing that the purity of the land base provides for all our needs. As active participants in the life of the church, the Council of Indigenous Peoples strives for reconciliation with the Anglican Communion and works towards Indigenous self-determination.

At the announcement of his appointment in late 2022, Primate Linda Nichols said, “Archbishop-elect Chris Harper brings years of experience in ministry among and with Indigenous Anglicans, urban and on reserve,” she said. “He has a passion for walking together with respect that will be essential as the Sacred Circle within the Anglican Church of Canada establishes its way forward.”

Archbishop Harper is the son of a residential school survivor, a Plains Cree and worked as an emergency medical technician before earning his certificate of Indigenous Anglican theology from James Settee College in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He received his master’s of divinity degree from Wycliffe College in 2005 and was priested the same year. In 2016 Harper was appointed as Indigenous native priest for the diocese of Toronto, a role he held until his election as bishop of Saskatoon in 2018. He has served on numerous committees of the church including the Council of General Synod, and is a member of Sacred Circle.

Learn more about the role of the Indigenous Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Canada.