Letter from the Bishop regarding
the appointment of the Rev. Canon
Christopher B.J. Pratt

The Reverend Canon Christopher B.J. Pratt
Canon Pratt was born in the United States and
attended the University of New Brunswick and Trinity
College before being ordained in 1979 and becoming
a Canadian citizen since 1982. He has served in the
Dioceses of Toronto, Fredericton and Huron with brief
opportunities for ministry in the Diocese of Brandon,
(St. Paul’s, Churchill, Manitoba) and the Diocese of
Quebec (St. James, Cacouna, Quebec).
As a founding member of a Community Food Basket in
Saint John, New Brunswick, the chair of a parish non-profit
housing project that constructed a 62 unit Senior Citizen Housing
complex and a new Parish Hall on church property in Windsor,
Ontario or supporting an award winning cultural outreach
programme in Kitchener, Ontario, he has sought to utilize
the strengths and resources of the congregations he has
served to enhance the life of the wider community.
Wider experiences of ministry include service as a
territorial Archdeacon, membership on the National Board
of the Compass Rose Society and Chair of the National Board
of the Canadian Bible Society.
His personal service as a Fire Chaplain, Police Chaplain,
Missions to Seafarers Chaplain, Royal Canadian Legion
Chaplain and the first Provincial Chaplain of Saint John
Ambulance in the Province of Ontario, have been recognized
on numerous occasions, most recently with the Sovereign’s
Volunteer Medal awarded by the Governor General. Since
1987 Canon Pratt has participated as a member and then as
a volunteer with the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership
Conference.
Married to Carolyn, a cellist and piano teacher, who is also
a Theory Examiner for the Royal Conservatory, the Pratts have
two married sons who are both educators, one is a Principal in
a Renfrew County school near Ottawa and the other works
primarily at the University of Ottawa teaching English as a second
language. Two Grandchildren, aged 5 and 3 are the focus of many
FaceTime connections and frequent visits to Ottawa.