Isaac O. Stringer was born April 19, 1866 in Kincardine Township, Bruce County, Ontario. Just before graduating the University of Toronto in 1892, he met Bishop Reeve of Mackenzie River who was appealing for missionaries to the Inuvialuit of the Lower Mackenzie. Stringer was ordained deacon and made his way to Fort McPherson by wagon, steamer and ox-team.
Stringer was priested in 1893 and travelled extensively visiting Rampart House, Kittigazuit, and other Inuvialuit communities. He married Sadie Alexander in Ontario 1897, and the two returned to the north, where they lived and ministered until 1901.
In August 1901, Stringer, his wife and two little children left Herschel Island, sailing on a whaling boat to San Francisco, for a furlough in Eastern Canada. Stringer had developed snow-blindness, unable to return to Hershel Island, he accepted the invitation of Bishop William Carpenter Bompas to become rector of Christ Church in Whitehorse. When Bompas resigned in 1905, Isaac Stringer was elected his successor as Bishop of Selkirk.
The name of the diocese was changed in 1907 to Yukon. The first Synod of the Diocese was held in Christ Church, Whitehorse in 1907. Dawson was chosen as the See City, and in the autumn of 1907, Bishop and Mrs. Stringer and their children set sail on the river steamer for their new home where they remained until 1931 when Bishop Stringer was elected Metropolitan of Rupert’s Land.
The Rev. Canon Arthur Henry Sovereign of St. Mark’s Church, Vancouver, B.C., was chosen as the successor of Archbishop Stringer. Archbishop Stringer moved to Winnipeg but continued travelling on behalf of the church. In the autumn of 1934, he visited the Diocese of Saskatchewan and penetrated far into northern Indian settlements, which were reached by airplane. On October 30, 1934, while about to ascend the steps of Trinity Synod Hall, Winnipeg, Bishop Stringer collapsed and died.