Canon Phil Ashey is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Anglican Council (AAC). Phil grew up in a Christian family and gave his life to Christ in 1968. A graduate of Stanford and Loyola Law School, he served as a Deputy DA in Orange County California. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1988 and spent twenty years leading Episcopal and Anglican congregations of all sizes in California, Virginia, and Pittsburgh—thirteen as a Rector and Church planter, and seven as a Senior Associate. Phil’s focus and passion is to develop biblically-faithful leaders at all levels of the Church—both here in North America and across the Anglican Communion. In 2015, he received his LLM in Canon Law from Cardiff University (Wales UK) and since then has also been teaching Anglican canon law, drafting church laws and consulting on governance issues for both the Anglican Church in North America and for biblically orthodox Anglican leaders and churches across the world.
Since early May when Canon Phil was invited to be in the Western Anglican Bishop search, it has been an intense time of prayer, examination, and mutual discernment. He and his family firmly believe this is God’s call. They have deep roots in California, including Canon Phil’s home parish in Newport Beach, his wife Julie’s home in the SF Bay Area, their education from elementary to post-graduate in California schools, and the very first congregations they pastored. For some time now, Canon Phil has been preaching, teaching, and proclaiming that the Church is closer to Babylon than it is to Jerusalem. He has been sharing through the Daniel Declaration and our Formed Conferences that we must engage our culture as Daniel did when he was in exile—with biblical truth, with grace and respect, and with the resolve to speak “with clarity and charity” (Eph. 4:15) just as the earliest Christians did in a pagan Roman Empire. There may be no place closer to Babylon or Rome in our culture today than some metropolitan areas of the West Coast. The Diocese of Western Anglicans includes Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming—including all of the major metropolitan cities in those Western states that are shaping our post-Christian culture.
Bishop-elect Ashey said, “I am deeply honored and blessed to follow in the footsteps of Bishops Bill Thompson and Keith Andrews in serving and leading the Diocese of Western Anglicans. I am also grateful for all of the experiences I have had leading the American Anglican Council, which have helped prepare me and Julie for such a time as this. We look forward to serving and helping to lead the people of the diocese to reach their communities with the transforming love of Jesus Christ!”
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey will be put forward for confirmation by the ACNA’s College of Bishops during their January 13-17, 2025 meeting and, if confirmed, will be consecrated on March 29, 2025 at a location TBD. He will remain the President of the American Anglican Council, and a search for a new CEO will now begin. Please keep the Diocese of Western Anglicans in your prayers as it begins this new season of ministry, and of course, please keep the Rev. Canon Phil Ashey, Julie and their children in your prayers during this time of transition.
