April 26, 2021 · 3:04 pm
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Revd Kanishka Raffel in Line to be Archbishop of Sydney

Item in https://sydneyanglicans.net/news/four-in-line-for-archbishops-election …. referred to Thuppahi by Leon Keegal of Adelaide

When nominations closed on Tuesday, March 23, three bishops and the Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, had been entered in the nomination process for the post of Archbishop of Sydney.The bishops are Chris Edwards, Peter Hayward and Michael Stead.

By the deadline, all four had received the required 20 names of Synod members in support. Following safe ministry checks the nominations will be officially declared, after a period during which any nominee has the opportunity to withdraw. All have indicated they would allow their names to go forward.

A one-day ordinary session of Synod will be held at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour on Monday, May 3, presided over by Bishop Hayward – who is Administrator of the Diocese until a new archbishop takes up his duties. However, at the Archbishop’s election Synod – which begins on the following day – the president of the Synod will be Bishop Peter Lin, as Bishop Hayward is a nominee.

The election process begins with the full list of nominees and speeches about each one. The voting then goes through a series of rounds. In the first round, Synod considers which of the nominees will move to the first of the elimination stages, the select list. Voting will be by “houses”, with a majority required in either the House of Clergy (ordained ministers) or the House of Laity (lay people) to move onto the select list.

In the next stage, Synod will consider which names will  move to the “final” list, and this requires a majority of votes in both houses. The final list can have a maximum of three names. After speeches, there is a secret ballot (or ballots) to elect the next Archbishop of Sydney.

The nominees are (left to right in photo above):
The Very Rev Kanishka Raffel, Dean of Sydney since 2016.
Bishop Chris Edwards, Bishop of North Sydney since 2014.
Bishop Peter Hayward, Bishop of Wollongong since 2010.
Bishop Michael Stead, Bishop of South Sydney since 2015.

   **** ****

Electing an archbishop to lead Sydney’s Anglicans has been an anxiety-provoking time for the faithful. But this year, not so much. Choosing a new archbishop – which will take place from May 4-7 – looks like being very different this year with general agreement that each of the four candidates could do the job.

The last two elections have involved vigorous campaigning with claims that a particular candidate was almost existentially important. But this time it is a gentlemanly affair (we can say that because the candidates are all male.)

This time its noticeable that old combatants, who fought vigorously for different candidates in past elections, have lined up together to campaign for the frontrunner, Kanishka Raffel, the dean of Sydney (the pastor of St Andrew’s Cathedral).

Raffel is frontrunner in part because he has gathered so many significant endorsements. They include Stephen Judd (the former CEO of independent charity HammondCare) and Laurie Scandrett (chief operating officer of Moore College), who have been prominent opinion leaders on opposite sides. Phil Colgan (minister of St George North) and Michael Jensen (minister of St Mark’s Darling Point) have been leading figures on opposite sides too. But this year they are soliciting votes on the same side for Kanishka Raffel.

The other candidates are all bishops: Chris Edwards, Bishop of North Sydney; Peter Hayward, Bishop of Wollongong; and Michael Stead, Bishop of South Sydney.

All the candidates have strengths. One is described as the best administrator, and another as the best communicator. They all have good reputations. But unlike previous elections, no-one is saying any of them would change the diocese for the worse or have character flaws – things heard in the past in archbishop elections. There would be no great qualms if any of the four were elected –which makes for a peaceful election.

A COMMENT from LEON KEEGAL in Adelaide, 27 April 2021: “Insofar as the second article notes  that Kanishka is the frontrunner in the upcoming election, it says a lot about the Diocese of Sydney that someone from a migrant (and initially non-Christian background) has been endorsed by many prominent individuals in the diocese (both from the conservative and liberal sides), and is now considered to be the favourite to be elected as the next Archbishop.”

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One response to “Revd Kanishka Raffel in Line to be Archbishop of Sydney”

  1. thuppahi
    May 17, 2021 at 9:14 am

    AN EMAIL NOTE from Leon KEEGAL in Adelaide, 17 May 2021:
    “Dear All,

    Please find below the livestream link to view the consecration of Kanishka Raffel as a Bishop in the Church of God, followed by his inauguration as Archbishop of Sydney at 7.00 pm (Australian Eastern Standard time) on Friday 28th May 2012 at St Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney. Please keep Kanishka and his wife Cailey in your prayers.

    God’s blessings and peace to you and yours.

    Léon

    St Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney, Archbishop Inauguration, Friday 28 May 2021 7pm – YouTube

    Reply

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