The Right Reverend Frederick James Hiltz
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The Right Reverend Frederick James Hiltz 5732 College Street |
DATES OF ORDINATION
June 3, 1977 Deacon
June 29, 1978 Priest
January 18, 1995 Bishop
INSTALLATIONS
January 18, 1995 Suffragan Bishop
March 21, 2002 Diocesan Bishop
POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION
1975: Bachelor of Science – Dalhousie University, Halifax
1978: Master of Divinity – Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax
2002: Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa – University of Kings College, Halifax)
CONTINUING EDUCATION
1995 – Present: Training Events for Regional Deans, Archdeacons and Bishops
1995 – 1998: College of Bishops, General Theological Seminary, New York
PARISH MINISTRY
1975 – 1978: Postulant – Parishes of Christ Church and St. Luke’s, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
1978: Deacon – Parish of Christ Church, Sydney, Nova Scotia
1978 – 1981: Rector – Parish of Melford-Guysborough, Nova Scotia
1981 – 1984: Rector – Parish of Timberlea-Lakeside, Nova Scotia
1984 – 1988: Priest Assistant – Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1988 – 1995: Rector – Parish of St. John's Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
1992 – 1995: Archdeacon of the South Shore, Nova Scotia
EPISCOPAL MINISTRY
1995 – 2002: Suffragan Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
2002 – Present: Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
OFFICES
1987 – 1988: Director, Anglican Formation Program, Atlantic School of Theology
ASSOCIATE OF THE SISTERS OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE
March 17, 2000 – Present
COMMITTEES, WITHIN THE CHURCH
Diocesan:
- Diocesan Council
- Dean and Chapter
- Anglican Diocesan Centre Corporation
- Growth for Ministry Fund
- Program Committee
- Committee on Ministry
- Formation Advisory Committee of Atlantic School of Theology
- Postulancy Subcommittee
- Non-Stipendiary Ordained Ministry Subcommittee
- Chaplaincy Committees
- Task Forces – Communication, Intentional Listening, Allotment
- 2010 – 300th Anniversary Celebrations
Provincial:
- Provincial House of Bishops
- Provincial Synod
- Provincial Council
- Coordinating Committee for the Restoration of the Diaconate
National:
- 1992 – Present: General Synod
- 1995 – Present: House of Bishops
- 2001 – 2004: Council of General Synod
- 2001 – Present: Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission for the Waterloo Declarations
(Anglican Co-Chair) - 1995 – 2001: Joint Working Group, Anglican-Lutheran Dialogue
- 1998 – 2004: Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee
- 1992 – 1995: Interchurch-Interfaith Committee
International:
- 2006 – Present: Anglican-Lutheran International Commission (Anglican Co-Chair)
COMMITTEES, WITHIN THE COMMUNITY
1993 – 1995: Seafarers Society, Lunenburg
1995 – Present: Founding Parties, Atlantic School of Theology
2002 – Present: Board of Governors, University of King’s College
HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
Care of Animals
Reading
Gardening
Woodworking
A STATEMENT ABOUT PRIMACY
THE RIGHT REVEREND FRED HILTZ
In the first instance, a Primate has the challenge to be the kind of servant leader for whom the Church prays at the time of election. As servant of the people of God, a Primate’s ministry is to gather the Church, to unite its members in a holy fellowship of truth and love, and to inspire them in the service of Christ’s mission in the world. He/She is called to “boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of the people.” (The Ordinal, p. 637, BAS) This ministry inevitably involves what someone once described as “pushing the boat out from the shore,” launching out into the deep. It’s about raising sights, broadening horizons. It’s about “drawing the circle wide, drawing it wider still.” It’s about the work of respecting the dignity of every human being, building a just society, and announcing the reign of God.
In the ministries of compassion for those who suffer, of advocacy for those whose voices are not heard, of calling for just resolutions to tension and conflicts among the nations, the Primate is one among many partners – those within the Christian tradition and those of other faith traditions.
As chief pastor of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Primate must first be given to diligence in prayer for the bishops, clergy and laity from coast to coast to coast. And then one must exercise a ministry of visitation in every diocese at least once within each triennium. These visits would include presiding, preaching, teaching, engaging the faithful in the call to discipleship, inviting dialogue over issues that draw us together and those that pull us apart, and helping the local church to know its valued place and work in the ever-widening circles of the Church across the country and throughout the world.
“Conversations with the Primate” should continue. Greetings and assurance of thoughts and prayers should be sent to every Provincial and Diocesan Synod. The Primate should greet the whole Church at times of major celebrations in the liturgical year. In times of joy the Primate should speak a word of encouragement in our life in Christ. And in time of struggle the Primate should call the Church to model that friendship in to which Christ has called us, that communion in which he would have us live, that vision which is the very inspiration of his own prayer that “we all may be one even as he and the Father are one.” (John 17:21).
In enabling our Church “to grow in membership, faith and service” the Primate works very closely with the House of Bishops. Far beyond one’s role as Chair of that body, one is called to be a pastor to the bishops. The Primate should participate in episcopal ordinations, remember anniversaries, and make every effort to know something of the joys and struggles the bishops face in the exercise of their ministry. One has a sacred responsibility to nurture good collegial relations among the bishops, so “The House” can be a place where the bishops have opportunity to grow in grace one with another, through prayer, study, and respectful dialogue grounded in intentional listening. The Primate is called to gather, unite, and enable the bishops in their vocation “to build up the Church, and bring glory to God’s Name.” (The Ordination Litany, p.661, BAS)
The Primate also works very closely with the staff at Church House and with the Standing Committee of the General Synod and its Council. The Primate needs to know the staff, the directors and all others who work in the various departments of Church House. In addition to his/her role as Chair of the Council, the Primate should, as an expression of interest and support, attend at least one meeting of each Standing Committee in each triennium.
In celebrating the special place and unique contribution of our aboriginal brothers and sisters in Christ, the Primate must have a genuine commitment to “Healing, Reconciliation, and New Life,” to Self-Determination as outlined in The Covenant, and to “A New Agape.” The appointment of the National Indigenous Bishop will go some distance in enabling the Primate’s ministry in this regard.
As a Church in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, I would like to see much more collaboration over matters of mission and ministry in all circles of the Church.
As we seek, through various means, to renew our vision as a Church, I would hope that the Five Marks of Mission of the Worldwide Anglican Communion (listed on the back of this statement) would be a significant point of reference.
Within The Communion, the Primate bears a particular role in that he/she represents our Church, taking into worldwide circles the distinct character of the Anglican Church of Canada. And from those circles one then carries home and shares with our own Church the vast array of expressions of the Anglican tradition worldwide, calls for striving for the highest degree of communion possible even as we struggle with complex issues, the longings for companionship between different parts of the world, the cries for solidarity with those who suffer for their faith, and the call to prayer for each other as “members, one of another in Christ.”
In every way I believe the ministry of Primacy must be grounded in the themes of that beautiful and well-known Prayer for Mission:
Draw your Church together, O Lord, into one great company of disciples, together following our Lord Jesus Christ into every walk of life, together serving him in his mission to the world, and together witnessing to his love on every continent and island. We ask this in his name and for his sake. Amen. (p.676 BAS)
THE FIVE MARKS OF MISSION OF THE WORLDWIDE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ
- To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God
- To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
- To respond to human need by loving service
- To seek to transform the unjust structures of society
- To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth