The Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia will step down from the role on October 8.
On May 2, Archbishop Geoffrey Smith announced on May 2 that he will also retire as Archbishop of Adelaide on November 8. The 65-year-old has served as archbishop since 2017 and as primate since 2020.
“The time is right for Lynn and I to reconnect with family and friends by moving back to Queensland. Lynn and I will move to the Sunshine Coast, where we will settle and look forward to becoming involved with the local church and community,” Smith wrote in a letter to Adelaide clergy.
“I have sought to time my resignation so that most of my commitments for the year will be completed, and to give the Synod an opportunity to meet before the end of the year to elect the eleventh bishop of the Diocese. I hope the new bishop will be in place well before the General Synod meets in August 2026, to enable the Diocese to fully participate in the life of the national church.”
The archbishop has won praise for his calm and judicious leadership at a time of increasingly polarized divisions in the church.
Robyn Douglass grew up in Sydney and Melbourne, completing a journalism cadetship at the Anglican newspaper in Victoria. In South Australia, she has worked for church, local, and national media.
