Chris Williams

John Christopher Richard Williams (22 May 1936 – 16 May 2026) was an English-born Canadian Anglican bishop. He was bishop of the Arctic in the Anglican Church of Canada at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. After his training and ordination in England, Williams spent 42 years in ministry in Canada, serving as a parish priest before his elevation to the episcopate. He presided over the growth of indigenous Inuit leadership in the diocese.

Early life and education Williams was born on 22 May 1936 in Sale in what was then Cheshire. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, Manchester University. As a student, he saw a ceramic igloo-shaped coin bank in a dormitory and became curious about it. The bank turned out to be a fundraising display for the Diocese of the Arctic. As a result, Williams pursued missionary work in the Canadian Arctic, shelving plans to pursue a career in advertising and studying Inuktitut in preparation for life among the Inuit. In 1960, he arrived as a 24-year-old missionary in Kugluktuk and he spent the next decade based in Sugluk, Quebec, where he met and married his wife, Rona Aitken, a missionary nurse from Scotland. They had two children. Williams assisted with the effort to translate the Old Testament into Inuktitut.

Williams died in Yellowknife on 16 May 2026, six days shy of turning 90.