Theological Education Fund Established to Honour Archbishop Linda Nicholls
At a special dinner for the National House of Bishops, and in recognition of the pending retirement of Archbishop Linda Nicholls as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Anne Germond announced the House’s establishment of the Archbishop Linda Nicholls Theological Education Fund to provide bursaries for theological education to women in Canada.
“Archbishop Linda has made a great contribution to the ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada and the wider church over the years,” said the Most Rev. David Edwards, Bishop of Fredericton, and Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada. “In many ways she has been a beacon and pathfinder for the ministry of women here, and overseas. It is very appropriate that this new fund is being established in her name. It is my hope that many people will support it.”
Archbishop Linda Nicholls was elected as 14th Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada in July 2019 and was the first woman to serve in this role. “AFC has a history of supporting theological education as one of our primary granting impact zones,” says Dr. Scott Brubacher, Executive Director, AFC. “This new fund will increase our capacity to support theological education for women, specifically, and it will serve as an enduring reminder of Archbishop Nicholls’ legacy to the Canadian Church.”
Brubacher explains that the National House of Bishops will provide the initial capital to this Fund in the amount of $20,000. Review of the applications and recommendations for funding will be made by AFC’s Board of Directors as part of the regular quarterly review of grant applications.
Prior to her election as Primate, Archbishop Nicholls served the Church as Bishop of Huron (2016-2019), Area Bishop of Trent-Durham, Diocese of Toronto (2008-2016), Coordinator for Dialogue for Ethics, Interfaith Relations, and Congregational Development at the national office, and almost twenty years as a parish priest in the Diocese of Toronto. She was ordained as a deacon in 1985 and as a priest in 1986.
Upon learning of the establishment of the new Fund, Archbishop Nicholls said, “I was so delighted and touched by the gift of this fund seeded by the House of Bishops to support women, lay and ordained, in theological education. As a woman who has served during the growth of support for the ministries of women in recent decades, I pray that this fund will enable more women to live into their God-given gifts for the good of the whole Church and the world.”
AFC members, donors, as well as groups and individuals across the Anglican Church of Canada are invited to make a gift to the Archbishop Linda Nicholls Theological Education Fund. Donations can be made by cheque, made out to the Anglican Foundation of Canada, with “Linda Nicholls bursary fund” in the memo line, online at www.anglicanfoundation.org/lindanichollsfund, or by contacting Michelle Hauser, AFC’s Development & Communications Officer by email at [email protected].
