The Ven. Dr. Eric Partridge '14 serves as the Executive Archdeacon of the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia on Vancouver Island, off the west coast of Canada. That role has a reasonable analog in the Canon to the Ordinary of the Episcopal Church in the US. Prior to moving to the synod office to support the bishop and the clergy and laity of the diocese, Eric was the rector of parishes on Vancouver Island and on the smaller Mayne Island that lies in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
Eric graduated from Episcopal Divinity School in 2014 after retiring from a rather varied professional career that included teaching in the public schools and at college and university, practicing corporate/commercial law, running a small business and serving as assistant deputy minister of the Ministry of Environment for the provincial government. After ordination, in 2018, Eric received a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Lutheran Theological School in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that explored the impact of gratitude practices on chronic loneliness. "That was before Covid," shared Eric "but the learnings from that study were very helpful in our diocese during the enforced isolation of the pandemic."
“While it is hard to point to one course or one professor that I was privileged enough to encounter at EDS, one of my fondest memories of my time there was a directed reading course on Canadian Anglican polity and ecclesiology with Dr. Fredrica Harris Thompsett,” Eric shared. “As I considered how the Canadian expression of church was lived out in my corner of the world, her quiet prodding and guidance helped me pay attention to the substantial personal and systemic privilege I enjoyed as an old, white CIS Canadian male-something to which before my time at EDS I had never paid a great deal of attention. I have carried that awareness with me in my ministry and I hope it has helped me to be more understanding and compassionate for those I encounter who may not enjoy as easy a place in our church or in the wider community.”