Anglican Diocese of Arctic
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The Diocese of Arctic is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is by far the largest of the thirty dioceses in Canada, comprising almost four million square kilometres, or one-third the land mass of the country. As the name indicates, the diocese encompasses the Arctic region of Canada including the entirety of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Nunavik region of northern Quebec. The See city is Iqaluit, Nunavut, and its approximately 18,000 Anglicans (over one-third of the total population) is served by thirty-one parishes. The administrative offices of the diocese are located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Originally, the region was part of the vast and sprawling Diocese of Rupert's Land, which at the time encompassed all of present-day Canada west of Ontario. Anglican activity in the Far North primarily took the form of missionary work among the indigenous First Nations and Inuit, undertaken for the most part by the evangelical Church Missionary Society. In 1874, the Diocese of Rupert's Land was split into four dioceses one of which, Athabasca, included the present-day Diocese of Arctic. In 1892, this territory was further divided into the Diocese of Selkirk (coterminous with the Yukon Territory) and Mackenzie River (coterminous with the Northwest Territories). The first Bishop of Mackenzie River was William Carpenter Bompas, a legendary figure in the history of Christian expansion in northern Canada. The Diocese of Arctic subsumed the Diocese of Mackenzie River when it was created in 1933, also carving northern Quebec from the Diocese of Quebec, where—like Nunavut and the Northwest Territories—the majority of the population is indigenous. The first constituted synod was not convened, however, until 1972.
Both the missionary history of the diocese and its particular cultural context contributes to its theology, which tends to be evangelical and conservative. For instance, the diocese sparked controversy in 2005 when it banned the employment of "homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals"[1], as well as those who engage in sexual activity outside marriage, and its bishops have been outspokenly critical of what they perceive as the liberal tendencies of many southern dioceses.
The diocese is well-known for its igloo-shaped cathedral, St. Jude's, which was destroyed by fire in 2005. It maintains a theological school, the Arthur Turner Training School in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. In 1996, Paul Idlout became the first Inuk bishop in the world (as suffragan bishop).
In 2002, The Right Rev. Andrew Atagotaaluk became the first Inuk diocesan bishop in the world. He is the fifth Bishop of Arctic, and is assisted in ministry to this vast diocese by two suffragans, The Right Rev's. Benjamin Arreak and Larry D. Robinson. The Dean of St. Jude's Cathedral is The Very Rev. James Barlow.
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