Adelaide’s Anglican Archbishop Geoffrey Smith has announced he will resign as Archbishop on November 8 and as Primate (leader) of the Anglican church of Australia effective October 8th.

This will bring on the separate election process for both positions.

“The time is right for Lynn and I to reconnect with family and friends by moving back to Queensland. Lyn and Iwil move ot the Sunshine Coast, where we wil settle and look forward ot becoming involved with the local church and community,” Smith writes in a letter to Adelaide clergy.

He explains his timing in his letter, dated May 2: “I have sought to time my resignation so that most of my commitments for the year will be completed, and to give the Synod an opportunity to meet before the end of the year to elect the eleventh bishop of the Diocese. I hope the new bishop will be in place well before the General Synod meets in August 2026, to enable the Diocese to fully participate in the life of the national church.

“I thank God and the Synod of the Diocese of Adelaide for calling me to be the tenth bishop of the Diocese. Our time in Adelaide has been a blessing to Lynn and myself, and Iam grateful for the prayers, encouragement and support of the clergy and people of the Diocese as we have all sought to share with God in God’s mission. There have been some challenging times, but by God’s grace we have navigated those challenges well.”

The Primate Canon (church law) of the Anglican Church of Australia specifies that the Primate is selected by a Board of Electors consisting of:
(a) all members of the House of Bishops,
(b) twelve members of the clergy, and
(c) twelve members of the laity.

As Archbishop Smith has announced a date for his resignation to become effective, “a meeting of the Board to be held not less than 3 months but not more than 9 months before the office is due to become vacant.”

The last Anglican General Synod (national church parliament) held in 2022 produced a conservative majority on elected committees. “The results of the elections to the standing committee of the General Synod (GS), held yesterday, reveal the conservatives are now in almost complete control of the national church,” longtime Anglican commenter Muriel Porter wrote in The Guardian and The Conversation. “Progressive Anglican clergy and laity from around the country who had long been members of the committee have been cast aside.”

The first-past-the-post system used to elect the General Synod committees including the Board of Electors for the Primate tends to amplify any majority in the General Synod. At the last General Synod a more conservative majority caused a shift from what had been a progressive tone of that body.