Skip to content

New rector for St. David’s Anglican Church arrives from Zimbabwe

On coming to St. David’s, Basvi spoke of the importance of family, the church working together as a team to achieve a shared vision, being part of the community, and ministering to all people regardless of age, nationality, gender or sexuality.
New church minister
Rev. Simbarashe Emmanuel Basvi from Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare, his wife Mebbo, daughter Nicole, and son Ivan are pictured on their fourth day in Canada. Rev. Basvi is the new rector for St. David’s Anglican Church in Tsawwassen.

The long-awaited arrival of the Rev. Simbarashe Emmanuel Basvi from Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare signals the beginning of a new chapter in the life of St. David’s Anglican Church in Tsawwassen.

Delayed by almost a year by protocol and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Basvi, his wife Mebbo, daughter Nicole, and son Ivan, arrived at Vancouver International Airport in late December to begin a new life in Canada.

They were welcomed by a small group of parish council members who soon had the Basvi family, and luggage, on its way to temporary accommodation in Tsawwassen, and quarantine.  

Basvi was ordained in the Anglican Communion in 2003 and brings a wide-range of leadership roles to his new parish. Prior to his appointment in B.C.’s Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, Basvi’s positions within the Anglican Diocese of Central Zimbabwe in Province of Central Africa included nine years as director and tutor at Zimbabwe Theological Education by Extension in Gweru, which is an Ecumenical Training Institute, school chaplain at nearby St Patrick’s, Mission (Gweru), two years teaching English as a foreign language under the St Peter’s Mozambique Project in Beira-Mozambique, and another two years as Sub Dean and eventually Dean of St Cuthbert’s Cathedral, Gweru.

He also served as assistant priest at St. Paul’s, Malborough (Harare) and was rector of urban parishes in Mission (Zimbabwe) and Luanshya (Zambia).

In appreciation of his passionate dedication to the work of the church, Basvi was appointed a Capitular Canon of St. Cuthbert’s Cathedral. 

On coming to St. David’s, Basvi spoke of the importance of family, the church working together as a team to achieve a shared vision, being part of the community, and ministering to all people regardless of age, nationality, gender or sexuality.

His wife Mebbo has teaching experience and may share her husband’s interest in music, eco theology, reading, watching movies, and touring – but probably opts out of his soccer-playing pastime!