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Fonds - Douglas Walter Hambidge fonds
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Douglas Walter Hambidge fonds

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  • 1980-1990 (Creation)
    Creator
    Hambidge, Douglas Walter, 1927-

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60 cm of textual records and other material

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Hambidge, Douglas Walter, 1927-

Biographical history

Seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Caledonia (1969-1981), seventh Archbishop of the Diocese of New Westminster and eighth Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia (1981-1993), Douglas Walter Hambidge was born in London, England. Ordained priest in London in 1953, he came to Cassiar, B.C. in 1956 and acted as Rector of All Saints' Church from 1956 to 1958. Bishop Hambidge and his family were prepared to return to England, where the work in a metropolitan parish seemed more challenging, but Bishop Watts persuaded him to try Smithers, B.C. After six busy years in the parish of St. James' in Smithers, the newly-elected Bishop of Caledonia, Eric Munn, asked him to go to Fort St. John, B.C. (1964). The Reverend Douglas Hambidge served the parish of St. Martin's in Fort St. John, and he also became also a radio personality. He had a daily devotional broadcast, "Strength for the Day", and a less conventional open line program where he picked any subject that he felt was an issue and reflected theologically upon it. In 1965, the Reverend Douglas Hambidge became Canon of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Prince Rupert, B.C. (1965). In May 1969, after Bishop Munn had died in California, the Reverend Douglas Hambidge was consecrated as seventh Bishop of Caledonia by Rev. G.P. Gower, Archbishop of the Diocese of New Westminster. In 1970, Bishop Hambidge obtained his D.D. (honoris causa) at the Anglican Theological College in Vancouver, B.C. A married man with three children, Archbishop and Metropolitan Hambidge brought a new, style to the episcopate of British Columbia. Traditional in terms of church structure and authority, he has been less traditional through experiments with lay ministry. Archbishop's Hambidge principal innovation in Caledonia has been " indigenous ministry" - the licensing of people chosen by their communities to be their priests. With Archbishop's approval, a community may choose as its priest someone without formal theological training but with other qualities which make him a desirable leader. This form of ministry was developed specifically for Caledonia under the influence of religious customs and practices of native people. Many of the Caledonia Anglicans were Nishga Indians and Archbishop Hambidge had been made member of the native family called Raven and given the name "Wal'aks", meaning "bearer of the living water". He restructured diocesan responsibilities, issued guidelines on various matters, from confirmation dress to Marriage Commission submissions. He was concerned about the deployment of clergy throughout the province and ways of working more effectively in order to cover the numerous vacancies in remote areas. Although he recognized the quality of Canadian theological training, Archbishop Hambidge made efforts to improve the training of the priests to the reality of ministry and encourage parishes to work together. He was one of the senior Bishops in Canada and very active nationally and internationally as a member of the Anglican Consultative Council. After his retirement, Archbishop Hambidge wanted to offer his skills and help the people of Tanzania. In 1993, he accepted a volunteer position as principal of St. Mark's Theological College in Dar Es Salaam, sponsored through the Anglican Volunteers in Mission program of the Anglican Church of Canada. Coming back to Canada, he retired to Parksville, B.C., later returning to the Diocese of New Westminster. He is currently Chancellor of the Vancouver School of Theology.

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Fonds consists of correspondence, reports and minutes, printed material, clippings, sound recording material, drawings. The fonds consists of the following series: general correspondence, arranged chronologically; radio broadcasts; minutes, correspondence and memoranda of the General Synod; sound recordings, graphic and reference material. It includes correspondence (1979-1990; predominant 1988-1990) of personal nature: letters to the editors of newspapers, to politicians; minutes, correspondence and memoranda of Administration and Finance Committee, Budget Subcommittee, and Grants Subcommittee of the General Synod (1985-1992) received by Archbishop Hambidge as member of these committees; transcripts and audio tapes of two radio broadcasts - "Sunday Profile" (1964-1969) and "Strength for the Day" (1965-1968) aired every morning by the radio station CKNL; an interview with Archbishop Hambidge on controversial subjects , such as abortion, death penalty and prostitution is also included; photographs, drawings, reference material on different media which includes pictures of religious ceremonies and churches, Hambidge portrait drawings and church drawings, recorded messages to annual parish meetings, pamphlets from the Installation of D.W. Hambidge as Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster (1980) and from the 13th Anglican Congress (1963), a videotape entitled "Our Moment in History" and produced by the Stewards-in-Action (1990-1992), transcript of Hambidge's Address to the Bishops on St. Barnabas Day in Prince Rupert, B.C (1978).

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Access restrictions apply to the General correspondence series.

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  • Alpha-numeric designations: BCAUL control number: ANGSYNOD-607

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