Kootenay has new bishop

Archdeacon John Elswood Privett, rector of the parish of Christ Church, Edmonton, was elected bishop of Kootenay on May 28.

Bishop-elect Privett, 49, was elected on the sixth ballot from among 15 candidates in an episcopal election held in Kelowna, B.C. He succeeds Archbishop David Crawley, who retired last November.

Mr. Privett, who has described himself as a “lifelong Christian and a child of the rectory,” has been one of two territorial archdeacons serving under Edmonton Bishop Victoria Matthews. “He played a significant role in the diocese of Edmonton last year during the seven-month absence of Bishop Matthews due to illness,” according to the Web site of the diocese of New Westminster. Mr. Privett was formerly an associate priest at St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, Vancouver, in the diocese of New Westminster.

Born May 13, 1956, in Saskatoon, Mr. Privett moved with his family when he was one year old to the Yukon, where his father served as rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Whitehorse.

Mr. Privett received a bachelor of arts degree (with honours) at the University of Saskatchewan in 1977 and a master of divinity from the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad, Saskatoon, in 1981. He also received a master of education degree from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, in 1990. In 2005, he earned a doctor of ministry degree in congregational studies from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.

He is married to Alida and they have an adult daughter, Anne.

Mr. Privett’s consecration as bishop has been set for Sept. 17.