Our Rector
The Rev. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff is the XVIIth Rector of The Church of the Advent, a vibrant Anglo-Catholic community that has been an integral part of Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood for more than 180 years. Long known for its commitment to liturgy, the parish is home to a world-renowned choir and music program. It is also committed to theological scholarship and holds academic conferences and colloquia that draw national and international attention. The church has also run for over forty years a weekly Community Dinner for those in need and actively supports mission and outreach work in several Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
As former Dean of All Saints’ Cathedral Cairo, Canon Alistair worked extensively on interfaith matters, strengthening ecumenical dialogue and fostering community formation within the Anglican Church in the Province of Alexandria, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. Previously, he served as Senior Advisor to the World Economic Forum and developed its Council of One Hundred Leaders West-Islamic Dialogue, later known as the C1 World Dialogue of which he was Director General. He also served as Senior Advisor to Lord Carey the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury, and to the King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) in Vienna, Austria.
Canon Alistair originally studied Ancient History and Philosophy before undertaking advanced degrees in Philosophy of Religion and Theology, studying in London, Oxford, and Yale where he was a Research Fellow and studied International Relations and Islam.
In 2024 he was admitted to the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. He is a Board Member of Prayer Book Society of the United States, The Elliott House of Studies, and of Communion Partners and is the Editor-in-Chief of The Anglican Way.