Peter Coffin (bishop)

For other people with the same name, see Peter Coffin (disambiguation).

Peter Robert Coffin was the eighth Anglican Bishop of Ottawa, from 1999 to 2007. He also served as the Anglican Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces from 2004 to 2016.

The Right Reverend Peter Coffin
Bishop of Ottawa
Church	Anglican Church of Canada
Diocese	Anglican Diocese of Ottawa
In office	1999–2007
Predecessor	John Baycroft
Successor	John Chapman
Other post(s)	Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces (2004–2016)
Orders
Ordination	1971
Consecration	1999
Education	University of Kings College, Halifax; Trinity College, Toronto; Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa

Education

Coffin holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of King's College, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Trinity College, and a Master of Arts in international affairs and development from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He also received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the University of King's College in 1997 and from Trinity College in 2004.

Ministry

Coffin was ordained a priest in 1971. After serving as assistant curate at St. Matthew's Anglican Church in Ottawa, he moved to Malaysia to teach Biblical theology at the House of the Epiphany, the theological seminary of the Diocese of Kuching in Sarawak. When he returned to Canada, he was appointed to various parishes in West Quebec and in the Ottawa area and served as the Archdeacon of West Quebec and of Carleton until 1990, when he became the rector of Christ Church Cathedral and the Dean of Ottawa. In 1999 he was ordained a bishop and became the eighth bishop of Ottawa on September 1, 1999, a role in which he continued until 2007. In 2004 he was appointed as Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces; and chaired the Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy. He was succeeded as Bishop Ordinary by Nigel Shaw on May 28, 2016.

Appointment of the Rev. Linda Privitera

In 2006, Coffin allowed the Rev. Linda Privitera, an American priest in a same-sex marriage, to work as a priest in Ottawa. This caused some controversy within the diocese of Ottawa due to the ongoing debate in the Anglican Church regarding same-sex marriage. A group of seven priests wrote an open letter condemning this decision, saying it was a "breach of the General Synod process in place in this country and puts our relationship with the world-wide Anglican Communion in jeopardy." Coffin afterward commented: "I may be called a liberal and unorthodox. But I firmly believe that people need to be treated with respect and dignity and that loving someone faithfully and in total commitment until death do them part is a blessing, regardless of sexual orientation."