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Photo: William Pleydon / Diocese of Niagara

I am delighted to welcome the Reverend Dr. Charles Meeks to our clergy team as an Honourary Assistant Priest.

Charles and his family are new to Vancouver, having recently made the move west as he takes up his new role at the Vancouver School of Theology as Associate Professor and Director of Anglican Formation and Studies. At VST, Charles will have a particular responsibility for the formation of Anglican students preparing for ordained and lay ministry, combining teaching and scholarship with mentoring, pastoral leadership, and engagement with dioceses and the wider Church.

His appointment as an Honourary Assistant Priest provides a natural connection between that work and the worshipping life of the Church. At the Cathedral, Charles will share in our common life bringing with him a rich combination of experience in parish ministry, theological education and ministry beyond the walls of the Church.

Charles comes to Vancouver from Hamilton, Ontario, where he served as Ecumenical Chaplain at McMaster University. There his ministry included pastoral care, worship and spiritual accompaniment in the wonderfully diverse environment of a large university campus. The chaplaincy describes its work as being offered to everyone, including those who may not find themselves at home within Christianity, and Charles has spoken particularly about creating space in which people can explore faith and spirituality while paying attention to what draws people together rather than what divides them.

Alongside his university ministry, Charles served in the Diocese of Niagara, including at St. Paul’s Westdale and the Church of the Ascension. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2025. His ministry, however, reaches back much further and has crossed both denominational and geographical boundaries. Earlier in his life he served in ministry in Australia, including churches in Melbourne, Sydney and Coffs Harbour.

A native of North Carolina, Charles studied at Houghton University in upstate New York, receiving a BA in Religion, before earning an MA in Biblical Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky. He later completed his PhD in theology at Wycliffe College in the University of Toronto, where his doctoral work brought together his interests in Scripture, the early Church and sacramental theology.

Those interests continue to shape his teaching and writing. Charles is particularly fascinated by the theology of the early centuries of Christianity and by the ways Scripture, worship, sacraments and the life of the Church belong together. He is the author of Sola Scriptura Sacramentaque: Recovering the Significance of the Sacraments with Hilary of Poitiers and Robert W. Jenson, and has written widely in historical and sacramental theology.

But Charles comes to Vancouver not simply as a scholar. What is especially exciting about his ministry is the way scholarship, formation and pastoral life are woven together. In announcing his appointment, VST President Richard Topping highlighted not only Charles’s academic gifts, but his experience in mission, Christian education and student support, as well as his warm and collegial approach to ministry.

Charles himself said of the move to VST, “I am humbled and overjoyed to be a part of the good work God is doing at VST!” He spoke particularly of his excitement about a vision of theological education that is both rigorous and pastoral.

That combination makes Charles a wonderful fit for the life and ministry of the Cathedral. We look forward not only to the gifts he will bring to our worship and teaching, but also to the opportunities his presence creates for an even deeper relationship between the Cathedral, VST, those preparing for ministry, and the wider Church.

Charles lives in Vancouver’s Mountainview neighbourhood with his spouse, Amy, and their son, Edwin. And lest all of this make him sound too serious, his interests extend well beyond fourth-century theology: he has also been known to enjoy good coffee, Formula 1 racing, the NBA and disc golf.

We are very glad that Charles, Amy and Edwin have made Vancouver their home, and especially glad to welcome Charles into the life and ministry of Christ Church Cathedral.

Welcome, Charles!