Robert Duncan

Robert William Duncan (born July 5, 1948) is an American Anglican bishop. He was the first primate and archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) from June 2009 to June 2014. In 1997, he was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. In 2008, a majority of the diocesan convention voted to leave the diocese and the Episcopal Church and, in October 2009, named their new church the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. (The Episcopal Church continued to maintain its Diocese of Pittsburgh under new leadership.) Duncan served as bishop for the new Anglican diocese until 10 September 2016 upon the installation of his successor, Jim Hobby. Duncan served as moderator of the Anglican Communion Network from 2003 to 2009 and chairman of the Common Cause Partnership from 2004 until the creation of the Anglican Church in North America. He has honorary doctorates from General Theological Seminary (1996) and Nashotah House (2006). At the time of Duncan's departure from the Episcopal Church, he was described as "probably the top conservative Episcopal bishop in America". Early life and ministry Duncan was born in Bordentown, New Jersey, in 1948. His mother suffered from mental illness and he found refuge from the tumult of his family life in prayer and meditation at Christ Episcopal Church in Bordentown. Duncan attended Bordentown Military Institute where he graduated valedictorian. He then entered Trinity College (A.B. cum laude) in Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from Trinity in 1970, he enrolled at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (M.Div., DD honoris causa) in New York. During his time at seminary, he also studied Scottish history at Edinburgh University.