Michael Ingham
The Right Reverend Michael Ingham is bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese includes the Greater Vancouver region, the Fraser Valley and the Sunshine Coast. He has been bishop since January 1994. Before this he was Dean of New Westminster and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver.
Although a highly respected churchman and theologian, Bishop Ingham has been the subject of extensive media coverage and controversy due to a decision to institute the blessing of same sex unions within the diocese. This has led to heated debate within the Anglican Communion and in other churches within the Lower Mainland of BC and will be one of the subjects of the forthcoming Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops.
Ingham was born in Yorkshire, England in 1949. He studied at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, receiving an M.A. in Politics and Philosophy and a B.D. (First Class) in Theology, while training for the priesthood in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He left before ordination, however, to do postgraduate work in contemporary American theology at Harvard University. He also spent a semester at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, studying Judaism.
Following ordination as a priest in Ottawa in 1974, he served parishes in Ottawa, Burnaby and West Vancouver. From 1989 to 1992 he was the Principal Secretary to the Primate of Canada in Toronto, and in that role travelled throughout the Anglican Communion.
Ingham is the author of two books. Rites For A New Age, an introduction to the Book of Alternative Services, was published in 1986, and Mansions Of The Spirit, an introduction to inter-faith dialogue, appeared in 1997. He has also written many articles and book reviews, and speaks frequently to lay and professional groups across North America on current theological issues. In 1998 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Vancouver School of Theology.
Ingham is married to Gwen and they have two daughters.