Wycliffe College | Chaplain Announced

The Very Reverend Chris Dow and family

Principal Andrews is pleased to announce the appointment of The Very Reverend Chris Dow as Wycliffe College Chaplain for a two-year appointment, beginning August 1, 2024. Dean Dow has a BA in History and Political Studies from Queen’s, and an MDiv (Honours) from Wycliffe College. He graduated in 2012 and his wife, Amy, whom he met while a student at the College, graduated with an MDiv the following year.

Chris has served as the Rector of St Jude’s Cathedral, Iqaluit, and Dean of the Diocese of the Arctic since 2021. There, his responsibilities included pastoring three congregations (two of which are Inuktitut), coordinating a staff of eleven, teaching in the Arthur Turner Training School, and regular ministry in the local correctional facility. Before answering his call to the Arctic, Chris was for three years the Incumbent of St James’ Church in Caledon in the Diocese of Toronto, where he also served as Regional Dean. Prior to this, Chris spent five years as the Rector of the Parish of Birch Hills, Kinistino and Muskoday in the Diocese of Saskatchewan. He was a member of the 2016 General Synod. As a member of the Prayer Book Society he was instrumental in the composition and eventual General Synod endorsement of the prayer ’For Reconciliation with the Jews’ as a replacement for the Anglican Church’s prayer ‘For the Conversion of the Jews’. Chris’s ministry has involved ecumenical partnerships and the learning of Cree and Inuktitut languages.

As Wycliffe’s Chaplain, Chris will be responsible for the cultivation of a vibrant community life at the College that includes pastoral care for domestic, international and remote students and their families. Giving oversight to our daily chapel services and to our field education program, Chris will also coordinate fellowship groups and extra-curricular activities designed to broaden student experience and learning.

With ten years’ parish ministry in the diverse settings of rural farming communities, a First Nations reservation in Saskatchewan, an affluent Toronto suburb, and the Eastern Arctic, Chris is well suited for preparing students to serve the church in a variety of contexts. We invite you to join us in praying for him, Amy, and their three children, Clara, Hannah and Abigail, as they relocate from the Arctic and as Chris takes up this new ministry.