Robert William Stanley Mercer CR

Community of the Resurrection

The Community of the Resurrection is an Anglican religious community for men. It was founded in 1892 by Charles Gore with Walter Howard Frere and four others....

 was the fourth Bishop of Matabeleland

Diocese of Matabeleland

The Diocese of Matabeleland is one of 15 dioceses within the Province of Central Africa . The current Bishop is the Rt Rev Cleophas Lunga....

.

Born on 10 January 1935, he was educated at Grey School, Port Elizabeth and St Paul's Theological College, Grahamstown

Grahamstown

Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...

. Ordained as a deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 in 1959 and as a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 a year later, his first post was as a curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 at Hillside, Bulawayo

Bulawayo

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...

. After time at St Teilo’s Carmarthen

Carmarthen

Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....

 he returned to his homeland but was deported in 1970. He was then chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 of St Augustine's School, Penhalonga

Penhalonga

Penhalonga is a village in the province of Manicaland, Zimbabwe located 18 km north of Mutare in a valley where the Sambi and Imbeza Rivers meet the Mutare River. According to the 1982 Population Census, the village had a population of 4,477. Ancient gold workings have been found in the area....

 and then rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Borrowdale, Harare

Borrowdale, Harare

Borrowdale is a wealthy residential suburb in the north of Harare, Zimbabwe.-Controversy:In 2006 several residents of the predominantly wealthy white suburb were evicted from their homes because of their proximity to Mugabe's new home in the suburb...

. He was ordained as a bishop in 1977. From 1988 to 2005 he was the metropolitan bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada

Anglican Catholic Church of Canada

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada is an Anglican church that was founded in the 1970s by conservative Anglicans.-Affiliation:With 30 congregations in Canada, the ACCC is the third-largest of the Anglican churches in Canada, after the ACC and the Anglican Church in North America.The Anglican...

. Though retired to England, he remains a member of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada's house of bishops.