A former journalist and evangelical—Right Rev Dr Mark Short, Bishop of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn— has been confirmed to be the next Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia.
In a Facebook post, the Canberra Declaration stated: “For the first time since 1982, an evangelical bishop — Mark Short — will serve as the national leader of Australia’s Anglican Church.”
In a July 21 public statement, the Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel, himself an evangelical Christian, welcomed the election of Short to the new role, starting Nov. 1.
Short takes up the new role after the resignation of former Primate, the Most Rev. Geoffrey Smith, Archbishop of Adelaide in May, who officially leaves the post in October.
“I know Mark to be a faithful servant of the Lord who holds unambiguous convictions about the primacy and trustworthiness of the Scriptures, and the power of the gospel for salvation for everyone who believes,” said Raffel.
“He has previously served effectively in national leadership as Director of Bush Church Aid, and will bring deep wisdom, broad experience and an irenic spirit to this new role.
“I give thanks to God for his election, and we pray earnestly that he may be granted the love, courage, and faithfulness required for the years that lie ahead. “
Short once worked as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald. He was first ordained in 1996 and received a Bachelor of Theology with Honors from Moore Theological College in 1997. He worked as a deacon assistant and assistant priest in Temora Parish before completing a PhD at University of Durham in England with a thesis, “From One Generation to Another: The Passover as Collective Memory.”
Then he served as priest-in-charge of the Parish of Tarcutta from 2002 to 2011, when he was also rector of the Parish of Turvey Park. This was followed by an appointment as vocations director archdeacon in 2007, and from 2009 to 2011, he served as archdeacon of Wagga Wagga overseeing 20 parishes.
Short also served as national director of The Bush Church Aid Society, partnering with 17 Anglican Diocese and other Christian organizations before he became bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.
In a “Presidential Address 2024” for the 48th Synod in Goulbourn city, Australia in September last year (2024), titled “Living Hope in an Uncertain World,” Short spoke about the importance of calling others to know Christ for themselves, as a central tenet of practical care and support.
“Surveys have found that in the broader Australian community the most valued aspects of church life are the provision of worship and care for the poor,” Short said, at the time.
“Conversely, the least valued are when churches advocate on political and social issues or when they engage in evangelism that seeks to persuade others of the merits of the Christian faith.
“To be sure, worship and pastoral care are both powerful expressions of Christian faith which have the potential to encourage insiders and attract outsiders.
“However, to not speak up for the sake of the temporal and eternal well-being of those around us is to fail to heed Christ’s call to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.”
The archbishop is married to Monica, who works as a social work lecturer and the couple share two adult sons.
