The Director of External Studies at Moore College, Rev Gary Nelson, has been elected the new Bishop of North West Australia.

The Synod of the remote Anglican Diocese sat in Geraldton on the 10th and 11th of February and voted to elect Mr Nelson as its seventh Bishop from an initial field of 6 candidates.

(Photo: Bishop-elect Gary Nelson)

The Diocese of North West Australia is the largest land-mass Diocese in the world, covering 2 million square kilometres. Its 18 parishes stretch from Dongara in the south to the top of Western Australia and east to the South Australia/Northern Territory border. The total population coverage is about 150,000 people.

Mr Nelson will take over from Bishop David Mulready, who was consecrated in 2004 and served until his retirement last year.

(Photo: Bishop David Mulready)

Before his current role at Moore College, Mr Nelson ministered in several Sydney parishes and was Rector of Panania and Assistant Minister at Dapto. 

He  grew up in western Sydney and trained as a teacher at Sydney University, spending two years with his wife in Papua New Guinea as missionary teachers with Wycliffe Bible translators.

An official diocesan statement says "We look forward to welcoming Gary to the North West later in the year."

In Sydney, Archbishop Peter Jensen welcomed the election describing Mr Nelson as "a Gospel-hearted man, firmly grounded in the Scriptures, with a wide experience of ministry and a deep desire that all God's people grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ."

"We look forward to continued fellowship with him and the Diocese of Northwest Australia in the years to come" Dr Jensen said.