Three archdeacons nominated for episcopal election

Archdeacons Brian Kauk, Kathryn Otley and Monique Stone have been nominated to be the 11^th bishop of Ottawa in the episcopal election, which will take place on Feb. 28 in Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa.

The Ven. Brian Kauk is the Incumbent in the Parish of Mississippi Lake, where he has served since 2016 during which time it became an Area Parish. In 2023, he was appointed Territorial Archdeacon of the Southwest, and he has also served as Archdeacon of Lanark—Arnprior since 2017. Ordained in 1996, Kauk has previously served as the Regional Dean of Stormont, Incumbent of St. Mark’s, Ottawa, Incumbent of the Parish of North Dundas, as well as in the parishes of Christ Church Bells Corners, Clayton, and St. John the Evangelist Smiths Falls.

Kauk is currently a member of the diocesan Triennial Evaluation and Priority-Setting Task Force and of the Community Ministries Committee (and is a former chair). He serves on the Parish Proportional Share Review Sub-Committee. He is also an assessor and member of the Advisory Committee on Postulants for Ordination.

The Ven. Kathryn Otley is the Incumbent of All Saints Westboro. She was appointed as Territorial Archdeacon of Central Ottawa in 2023. She served as Territorial Archdeacon in the Carleton Deanery from 2018 to 2023. Ordained in 2006, Otley previously served as the Incumbent of Christ Church Bells Corners from 2013 to 2023 during which time the parish used its land resources to create the affordable housing project Hollyer House and Community Hub (resource centre and food bank). Prior to that, she served as Incumbent of the Parish of Fitzroy Harbour and as associate curate at St. John the Evangelist, Ottawa and chaplain at The Well.

Otley co-leads Fresh Start, a new diocesan clergy support and development team. She is a long-time member of the Homelessness and Affordable Housing Working Group, now renamed as the Bishop’s Panel on Housing Justice, and has served as a diocesan representative to the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. She was also a diocesan representative to the 2025 General Synod.

Otley currently chairs the Anglican Church of Canada committee: Public Witness for Social and Ecological Justice.

The Ven. Monique Stone is the Incumbent of Christ Church Bells Corners and Territorial Archdeacon for West Ottawa. She previously served as Incumbent at Julian of Norwich Anglican Church in Ottawa from 2018 to 2024 and as Incumbent in the Parish of Huntley from from 2011 to 2018.

She currently chairs the diocesan Triennial Evaluation and Priority Setting Task Force and is a member of Diocesan Council.

From 2023 to 2025, Stone chaired the Primate’s Commission: Proclaiming the Gospel in the 21^st Century, resulting in Creating Pathways for the Transformational Change of the General Synod, which was approved by General Synod in June 2025 to serve as a map to guide change within the Anglican Church of Canada.

Prior to her 2011 ordination, Stone was a senior associate at PACE Public Affairs and Community Engagement Ottawa. In that role, she was the lead consultant working with the City of Ottawa, the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Housing Corporation, and the National Capital Commission on issues such as sustainability and transit.

The full curriculum vitae of each of the nominees as well as a list of those who nominated them is posted on the diocesan website. Each of the nominees has been asked to respond to a series of questions related to the role of bishop, and their responses have also been posted.

Four public meetings will be held in different locations across the diocese in the weeks leading up to the election. The meetings are intended to help people in the diocese get to know the nominees better and members of the electoral Synod to discern which nominee is best suited to be the next bishop. A moderator will invite each nominee to address the meeting and respond to questions from the audience. There will also be an opportunity to get to know the nominees during an informal reception. While only members of Synod will do the actual electing of the bishop, the public meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend.

The schedule for the public meetings is:

February 11, 2026 at 7 pm – St. Helen’s, Orleans (1234 Prestone Drive, Ottawa)

February 12, 2026 at 7 pm – Trinity, Cornwall (105 Second Street West, Cornwall)

February 15, 2026 at 7 pm – St. Paul’s, Kanata (20 Young Road, Kanata)

February 20, 2026 at 7 pm – Holy Trinity, Pembroke (68 Renfrew Street, Pembroke)

All of the meetings will also be livestreamed. Should severe winter weather force the cancellation of an in-person event, the public meeting will take place on the same date but in an online setting. Check the diocesan website for further details and updates:  ottawa.anglican.ca/episcopal-elections-2026

Additional nominations will be accepted until the electoral Synod convenes on Feb. 28, but only clergy whose nominations were received by Jan. 24 are invited to participate in the four public meetings. All candidates must be a cleric in good standing within the Anglican Communion, must be at least 30 years old, must have served as a priest for at least seven years, and must conform to the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Church of Canada. (More detailed information is available on the diocesan website on the episcopal election page.)

In a previous article, Synod Secretary, the Rev. Canon Stephen Silverthorne, outlined some of the qualities required for the role of bishop. ‘The greatest requirement is a commitment to careful discernment. It is a privilege to serve as bishop, but it’s not an easy calling. Among other things, the office of bishop involves serving as a pastor, an administrator, a theologian, and a communicator,” he said. “We believe in God’s providence and in God’s power to equip people for the roles they are called to, but it is a challenging role which requires candidates to consider carefully the costs involved. So, we encourage everyone in our diocese to pray that the Holy Spirit would embolden and encourage the right people to allow their names to be put forward for nomination.”

Election Day

All lay members of the 145th Annual Synod (held in October 2025) are eligible to vote in the Electoral Synod, as are all active clergy in our diocese. Following procedures set by diocesan canons, ten retired clergy, chosen by their fellow retired clergy, will also serve as members of the Electoral Synod.

The Electoral Synod itself will be held at Christ Church Cathedral on February 28, 2026. Registration begins at 8 am. A celebration of the Eucharist will begin at 9 am. At the Electoral Synod, electors will be issued ballots and invited to vote for the nominee they feel is most qualified. Voting is conducted by orders, meaning that the votes of clergy and laity are counted separately. To be elected, a nominee must receive a majority of votes both among the clergy and among the laity. If a round of balloting does not achieve this, more rounds of balloting follow until a nominee has achieved a majority in both houses. The Most Rev. Anne Germond, Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, will chair the Electoral Synod.

The bishop-elect will be installed at a service at Christ Church Cathedral on May 9, 2026.

— With thanks to the Rev. Canon Stephen Silverthorne