NEW ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF RICHMOND GETS BISHOP

On Sunday last, the 8th September 2002, the Most Reverend A. Donald Davies, the Archbishop and Primate of the Christian Episcopal Church, consecrated the Venerable Robert D. Redmile to be the Bishop Co-adjutor for the new traditional Anglican Diocese of Richmond, British Columbia. Davies was assisted in the consecration of the new Bishop by two fellow American Bishops, Jon Lindenauer and Theodore Casimes, both Bishops of the Christian Episcopal Church in the United States.

The Service of Consecration was held at the Pro-Cathedral Church of Saint Saviour in Richmond, and was a glorious event. Some three hundred people gathered together to witness the ancient Christian rite of the consecration of a Bishop to be a successor of the Apostles that Christ Himself had chosen to establish the Christian Church. Amongst the congregation were the Ecumenical Relations Officer of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, the Reverend Dennis Polanco, and retired Clergy of the Anglican Church of Canada, as well as other Anglican Clergy now ministering under Davies.

The Christian Episcopal Church was first established in 1991 by Davies as the Episcopal Missionary Diocese of the Americas, and was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) until 1992, when Davies and his Clergy withdrew from the General Convention of ECUSA over matters of doctrine and and discipline.

Davies was consecrated in 1970 as the Fourth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, Texas, and served both the Diocese and then later the National Church until 1983, when he was elected the First Bishop of the new Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. In 1985, Davies resigned as the Bishop of Fort Worth and, at the request of the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA, John Allin, was appointed the Bishop for the Convocation of American Churches of Europe.

Davies remained as the head of the American Church in Europe for four years, during which time he came to have a warm and firm friendship with Pope John Paul II, and with Cardinal Willibrands and other members of the Roman Curia. In 1989, Davies returned to the United States in order to head up work assisting traditional Anglicans who were finding themselves becoming increasingly marginalised within the Episcopal Church as it drifted farther and farther away from traditional Christian beliefs and practices.

That same year, Davies and other supporting Bishops and Clergy organised the Episcopal Synod of America (ESA) to be a forum for concerned Anglicans to have their voices heard. In 1991, Davies and the ESA established a new Missionary Diocese to provide alternative episcopal oversight for Anglicans in North America who were no longer able, for reasons of conscience, to continue as communicant members of their dioceses.

Finally, when the General Convention met in 1992, Davies was given an ultimatum either to accept the direction that ECUSA was heading, or else withdraw from the General Convention.

Since the Episcopal Missionary Diocese had already been recognised as a separate denomination in Canada for legal purposes, Davies resigned from the House of Bishops while remaining Bishop of the Canadian Church, and retained full canonical episcopal jurisdiction and authority.

In 1991, former communicant members of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster had already left the Anglican Church of Canada and had established the Parish of Saint Saviour. The new parish was duly incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia, and was accepted by Davies as the first Canadian parish of the Episcopal Missionary Diocese. This meant that it was a member of the Episcopal Church at the time of its inception.

In 1998, the Parish of Saint George the Martyr, White Rock, was formed, and then in 2000 the two Christian Episcopal parishes, and their Vancouver mission, formed the new Diocese of Richmond with Davies as its First Bishop.

Earlier this year, Davies and the other Bishops of the Christian Episcopal Church met at a Synod in Tucson, Arizona, where they decided to appoint the Archdeacon responsible for the new Diocese of Richmond, Robert David Redmile, to be the first Canadian Bishop of the Christian Episcopal Church and Bishop Co-adjutor of Richmond, working under the authority of Davies. This appointment was then confirmed unanimously last July by the members of the new Diocese. In his new capacity as Bishop, Redmile will be responsible for the oversight of traditional Anglicans in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and to provide assistance for other Anglicans who find themselves unable to remain in the Anglican Church of Canada.

Bishop Redmile was born and raised in Vancouver, and moved to Richmond in 1988. He studied at Vancouver Community College, Langara, graduating in 1983, and in 1986 he received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia. In 1989, Bishop Redmile graduated from the Faculty of Education of the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor's degree, and taught senior and junior Secondary School both in the public and private systems until 1994. During that time, Redmile also studied theology, spending some time at Regent College and other conservative Christian institutions, and received his Licentiate in Theology in 1993.

Bishop Redmile was made Deacon in May 1993, and was ordained Priest by Davies the following December. Redmile has served as Rector of Saint Saviour's Parish for the last nine years, and was for a number of years both resident Chaplain to the Royal Arch Masonic Home and Anglican Chaplain for the Windermere Care Centre, Vancouver. Since 1998, Redmile has also been the Rector of Saint George's Parish, and since 2000 he has been the Archdeacon of the Diocese of Richmond.