The Rt. Rev. Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross, and Caithness, will serve as the next Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. At 56, he is the youngest member of the College of Bishops. He was consecrated in 2007. He succeeds the Most Rev. David Chillingworth, who stepped down this month after eight years in the post.
“I am humbled by the confidence shown in me by my colleagues, and I will seek to serve the church as Primus with love and strength,” Strange said. “I am deeply privileged to be the Bishop of Moray, Ross, and Caithness, and am aware that it has been 82 years since a Bishop of Moray became primus.
“I pray that I may be worthy of this trust,” he said. “I will continue to serve in my beloved Highlands while I also step out into new and exciting journeys of faith in both Scotland and the wider international church.”
Bishop Mark takes up this role as a Primate within the Anglican Communion at a point where the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church has voted to bless same-sex marriage. That decision is expected to be on the agenda of the next Primates’ Meeting in Canterbury, which Bishop Strange will attend.
He is married to Jane, a teacher in Inverness. They have a son and two daughters.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
