A Statement by the Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo... Many sections of the population are deeply alarmed at the possible repercussions the proposed 18th Amendment to the Constitution will have on our system of democratic governance.  

With the London Olympics less than two years away, in Southwark Diocese work has begun to engage with the mission opportunities presented by the games.

An Anglican Army chaplain who recently served in Afghanistan has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship to help heal war veterans suffering from spiritual wounds.

The Bible Society in Northern Ireland has placed a new range of worship resources on its website at www.bsni.co.uk to encourage churches to celebrate access to the Scriptures.

I flew into Entebbe on Monday morning without map or compass; this was only the second gathering of bishops from across the continent of Africa. The first had been six years ago in Lagos, Nigeria, long before my time with the Anglican Communion Office.

Four hundred bishops from Africa announced today that 'business as usual' was no longer an option for the Anglican Church there and that Africans should "take their destiny into their own hands".

The continent of Africa is facing a future in which climate change will kill more people than traditional causes such as malaria and HIV, according to a Ugandan environmental expert.

Rev Canon Gideon Byamugisha today called on the African bishops of the Anglican Communion to take the lead in ensuring the HIV virus never celebrates its 50th birthday in 2031.

Uganda’s President Museveni said today that tolerance was a biblical imperative and that Christians should not “have one minute of time wasted” by those promoting prejudice.  

The Archbishop delivered a sermon for Opening Eucharist at the 'Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa All Africa Bishops' Conference, Entebbe, Uganda

The Bishop in Egypt Dr Mouneer Anis told bishops from more than 400 dioceses at the 2nd All Africa Bishops Conference that this was an historic moment for Africa’s Christian community. “There is no doubt that history is going to record what happens at this conference for future generations,” he said at today’s opening service in Entebbe, Uganda.

Cape Town, 19 August. South Africa’s public service strike is hurting hospital patients and students, and the government and unions should act to end it, says the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

The Anglican Church of Burundi kicked off its 75th anniversary celebrations during the Aug. 14-15 weekend with a service of thanksgiving and prayer at St. Luke's Cathedral in Gitega and a service of Holy Communion at St. Peter's Church in Buhiga.

The Anglican Church of Australia's Appellate Tribunal says it disagrees with the Diocese of Sydney's decision that people other than priests may preside at Eucharist.

The archbishops and bishops of the Church of Ireland are anxious that members of the Church throughout the country should be given an opportunity to respond to the present humanitarian crises of which we are so painfully aware. Accordingly, they are requesting that retiring or other appropriate collections take place in every church on some Sunday before the end of September.

Bangalore, India, 19 August (ENI)- Church-backed aid groups are calling for people around the world to step up to the plate and help those suffering the worst floods in the history of Pakistan, with one agency describing the international response as, "far from adequate".

Even though the oil well has been capped and clean-up measures are moving into a new phase, the economic and emotional impact of the April 2010 oil spill is still devastating the Gulf Coast. With the help of Episcopal Relief & Development, Episcopalians from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle are responding to the needs of their communities.

The Anglican Consultative Council has a new Constitution. How did this come about? What does this mean in reality? How will it affect the work of the Instruments of Communion? The Standing Committee? ACNS spoke to John Rees, legal adviser to find out more.

The Anglican Church celebrates one hundred years of existence on Zambian soil this year. In order to commemorate this day a number of programs have been put in place. All the five dioceses in the country will commemorate the day individually  

The Diocese of Peshawar has launched an emergency relief and rescue program for families affected by the recent monsoons and flooding in Pakistan as the death toll from the natural disaster rose above 1,200.

A year has now passed since the killing of a group of Christians at Gojra in the province of Punjab in Pakistan, on August 1 2009. Eight people were burnt alive and many others had their houses destroyed and lost all their possessions.

On tuesday's agenda: the second part of the Unity, Faith and Order report; the report on the Bible in the Life of the Church project and theological education in the Anglican Communion; a report on Anglican Communion communications; a report on Continuing Indaba.

Building on the report to the Standing Committee, ACO staff Stuart Buchanan and Revd John Kafwanka presented on the ACC and Lambeth Conference-mandated project the Evangelism and Church Growth Initiative (ECGI).

Saturday's agenda included reports from Chair Bp James Tengatenga and Secretary General Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon; the UN Anglican representatives' reports; reports on finance and administration; business matters; the ACC, the Primates' Meeting and the Standing Committee; and the Lambeth Conference Company.

Friday’s agenda included membership issues, recent developments in the Communion and reports from Chair Bp James Tengatenga and Secretary General Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon.

A working group from across the worldwide Anglican Communion met at Lambeth Palace between 12 and 14 July to plan how to turn the proposed Anglican Alliance on relief, development and advocacy into a reality.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has delivered the keynote address at the 11th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Stuttgart, Germany.

Bishops from dioceses as far apart as Hong Kong, Jamaica and Toronto gathered last week to discuss the next steps of the Anglican Communion’s Continuing Indaba project.

Canon 22 establishes self-determining national indigenous ministry In what was described as an “historic moment,” the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada on June 9 approved the introduction of a new canon (church) law that firmly establishes a self-determining national indigenous ministry within the church.

An innovative way of planning a church wedding by web has been a surprise hit with couples. What began life as a pilot less than two years ago with a change in the law initiated by the Church - the Marriage Measure - is now at the heart of one-third of Church of England weddings, statistics suggest.

Thousands of people have been displaced and are pouring into towns in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo as an upsurge in violence in the Lubero and Beni territories takes its toll, writes Baliesima Kadukima Albert, Coordinator of Health and HIV/AIDS programmes for the Anglican Church of the Province of Congo.

Chinese proverbs offered a Hong Kong-based group some helpful insights into ways Anglicans might best talk and work through their differences.

Bwana asifiwe! Praise the Lord! Dr Mwita Akiri has been elected and consecrated as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Tarime, in northern Tanzania.

The South African Council of Churches says it is taking measures in the country's nine provinces to assist possible victims of xenophobia following some attacks in the Western Cape province.

I learned, with great shock, of the bomb blasts that went off at Kyadondo Rugby Club and Ethiopian Restaurant in Kabalagala, killing and injuring many innocent people who had converged to watch the World Cup Final on Sunday night.

Retired Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Cuba Nerva Cot Aguilera died suddenly on July 10 after a brief battle with severe anemia. She was 71.

Thousands of children in South Africa have been protected from human traffickers during the Football World Cup thanks to holiday clubs set up by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The Holiday Club programme, developed by HOPE Africa in co-operation with Scripture Union and The Ultimate Goal (TUG), has seen churches and schools using their facilities to provide children with a safe space to go and activities to keep them occupied.

Another Commission - another chance for post-war reconciliation. It is now a year since the civil war has ended in our beloved Sri Lanka and sadly national reconciliation continues to elude us. In these circumstances the CR de Silva Commission on “lessons learnt and reconciliation” is timely and welcome. It is yet another chance to learn from mistakes of the past and to humbly declare the truth that brings reconciliation.

Responding to the announcement of the retirement of His Eminence Walter Cardinal Kasper as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said:

The forthcoming Standing Committee meeting will welcome two new members from Asia and Africa: Bp Paul Sarker (Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and Bishop of Dhaka) and Revd Canon Janet Trisk of South Africa (Rector of the Parish of St David, Prestbury in Pietermaritzburg, in the Diocese of Natal).

This is to inform you that during the last House of Bishops, held in GITEGA on the 23 – 24 June, 2010 it was unanimously decided to extend the mandate of the Most Reverend Bernard NTAHOTURI as the Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of BURUNDI for another period of five years starting from July 17, 2010.

Mexico has become the first Communion Province to adopt the Anglican Communion Covenant following its VI General Synod in Mexico City on 11 and 12 June.

‘The custodians of the law are the ones denying us access, threatening to arrest us or use teargas, to force us out. There are church wardens who have been arrested and some who bear marks of beatings.’ – Bishop Chad Gandiya, Anglican Diocese of Harare, February 2010

The decision making body of the Anglican Church of PNG (ACPNG), known as the Provincial Council has elected a new Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. The election took place at the Provincial Council Meeting which was held in Port Moresby on 11th June 2010

"Jesus Christ is the standard for discerning the path between authentic cultural expression and flawed syncretism, between ensuring we do not quench the Spirit and yet properly testing what we believe may be the Spirit's leading," said Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

The co-founder of a leading UK Christian advertising group have launched a campaign to remind the British public that Christmas is about Jesus Christ. In a country considered to be increasingly secular, the group ChurchAds.net have spent the past decade designing thought-provoking campaigns to keep Christ at the centre of Christmas.

The fourth meeting of the Anglican Jewish Commission of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel took place at Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury on 24th and 25th May 2010/ 11th and 12th Sivan 5770.

Representatives from Episcopal Churches across Scotland will gather in Edinburgh from 10-12 June for the annual meeting of the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Throughout the three day gathering, matters ranging from social issues to church policy will be debated. 

In April, John Chesworth, (editor of Christian-Muslim News Digest, produced by the Network for Interfaith Concerns of the Anglican Communion (NIFCON)), spent three weeks in Jos. Whilst there he met with the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, the Most Reverend Ben Kwashi, to assure him of the support and prayers of NIFCON and to learn from him about the situation in Jos.

The head of the Anglican Communion delegation at the Edinburgh 2010 World Mission Conference said today that a “wonderful” conference had been let down by an inability to completely let go of the north-south paradigm.

Most of you will have read the recent letter of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Anglican Communion on the subject of Pentecost. Part of that letter addresses the current and ongoing tensions in the Anglican Communion – these tensions cluster around the three moratoria referred to in the Windsor Report.

Three new videos from the Edinburgh 2010 world missionary conference are available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm. Anglicans attending the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh say it is set to be a crucial moment for global Christianity.

Anglicans attending the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh say that the June 2-6 gathering promises to be a pivotal moment for the global Christian community in discerning its future and exploring how different denominations can work together in partnership.

Members of the worldwide Anglican Communion are working together on a project to discover what the Bible tells the church about saving the planet from environmental damage. The Bible in the Life of the Church project manager, Stephen Lyon, said that World Environment Day was the perfect moment to reveal that the first issue under discussion would be the Environment.  

The Anglican Communion Office (ACO) has today launched its online shop where visitors can buy books, CDs and other products that support and reflect the work of the Instruments of Communion.  

In his Pentecost letter to the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury encourages Anglicans to pray for renewal in the Spirit and focus on the priority of mission, so that 'we may indeed do what God asks of us and let all people know that new and forgiven life in Christ is possible'.

We, the Bishops of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa call upon the Government of South Africa to seek the release of Stephen Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, who were recently sentenced in Malawi to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour, after they shared in a traditional ceremony of engagement.   

‘Let us all pray that God will bless the World Cup!’ said Archbishop Thabo Makgoba on Monday as he launched a special prayer for the tournament.

At 10.45am on the 12th May Archbishop Brown Turei declared that Bishop Winston Halapua had been elected as the new Bishop of Polynesia – and therefore, as one of the three Archbishops of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada is meeting in Halifax, June 3-11 under the theme Feeling the Winds of God - Charting a New Course.

The arrival of Continuing Indaba on the Internet as part of the Anglican Communion web site makes visible the preparatory work already in hand for the series of pilot conversations between dioceses from different parts of the Communion to take place during 2010 and 2011.

The Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright, has announced that he will be retiring from the See of Durham on August 31.

“It came as a surprise to find myself in a room with people gifted in all areas,” said Stuart Burns, Head of the School for Ministry in the Leicester Diocese, on the first meeting of the UK and Ireland Resource Hub for the Continuing Indaba Project.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Louis Vono was elected April 24 as ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.

From 2-6 June, a broad partnership of Scottish churches is welcoming 300 delegates from over 60 countries for the Edinburgh 2010 conference.

Compass Rose Society President Bishop Philip Poole has announced that the Right Reverend Jean Zaché Duracin, Bishop of Haiti, will address the Society's 2010 Annual General Meeting.

The "Fourth Trumpet" statement from the Global South to South Encounter has called called for greater holiness, purpose and discipline after acknowledging two decades of conflict and controversy has affected their ability to fulfil the Great Commission.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has used his video address to the Fourth Global South to South Encounter meeting in Singapore to emphasise that it is the work of God’s Spirit that can heal the tensions within the Anglican family.

"Volcanic eruption won’t stop us working to bring Lutherans and Anglicans closer to full communion," says Commission co-secretary.

Most of the 130 primates, bishops, clergy, senior lay leaders, associates and observers have now arrived for the five-day Encounter which starts today, Monday 19th April.

Representatives from throughout the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia will gather this Saturday for the ordination and installation of the Very Rev Ross Bay as the 11th Bishop of Auckland. The service begins at 1pm in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Parnell, Auckland.

In a four hour-long service in Abuja’s Cathedral Church of the Advent, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh was recently installed as the fourth Primate of the Church of Nigeria. The ceremony also commemorated the completion of Archbishop Akinola's period in office.

The General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Tanzania Dr Mwita Akiri (50) has been elected to be the first Bishop of the Diocese of Tarime (east of Lake Victoria and west of Serengeti National Park) within the Anglican Church of Tanzania.

A shelter for the homeless has been rededicated by the Archbishop of York after a £1.3m redevelopment.

A group of unidentified gunmen forced their way into the home of Congolese Bishop Sylvestre Bali-Busane Bahati of the Diocese of Bukavu during the early hours of April 9, looting the property and leaving with money, clothes and electronic equipment.

On April 11, 2010 The South American Missionary Society (USA) announced a new name and vision this week. A thousand Episcopalians and other Anglicans gathered for the New Wineskins for Global Mission Conference and the parallel RE:MIX Young Adult Conference, which inspired individuals and equipped churches to fulfill the Lord’s Great Commission.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has used his Easter sermon to urge Christians to keep a proper sense of proportion when they feel they are experiencing opposition to their faith and remember both the physical suffering of Christian minorities in other countries and call to mind what exactly the Cross stands for in their faith.

In his ecumenical Easter Letter to fellow church leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury urges those living in politically secure environments to offer practical support as well as prayers for suffering Christians around the world, particularly in Zimbabwe, Mosul, Egypt and Nigeria:

We, the delegates to the triennial meeting of the Anglican Peace and Justice Network in Geneva, Switzerland, have spent the week of 14-20 March 2010, exploring issues of human rights and examining the role of the United Nations, the World Council of Churches (WCC), and other faith-based and humanitarian organisations in upholding the rights of individuals and communities throughout the world.

"People came with lots of fear, apprehension and pessimism about the usefulness and outcomes of an Indaba consultation," said Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy of Amritsar, convenor of a meeting in Delhi in March 2010 in preparation for the Continuing Indaba project.

Codrington College, Barbados, which is the oldest dedicated Anglican theological College in the Western Hemisphere and serves the Province of the West Indies, hosted a Theological Hub meeting for the Continuing Indaba project from the 23rd to the 25th March 2010.

Dear Friends, The Assyrian International News Agency (www.aina.org) has published an article about the demolishing of an Anglican Church in Luxor, Egypt by the Egyptian State Security. This news is not correct as we do not have a church in Luxor.

The Episcopal Church of El Salvador denounces before the general public and the international community the murder attempt that Bishop Barahona and two of his closest collaborators suffered. This past Wednesday night (17th), Bishop Barahona, along two of his closest working partners, was victim of the violence that has held this country imprisoned

Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon is pleased to announce the appointment of Jan Butter as the Communion’s new Director for Communications.

The Anglican Diocese of Chile is developing a plan for short- and long-term relief to serve isolated communities most affected by the magnitude-8.8 earthquake that shook the central part of Chile on Feb. 27, leaving almost 400 people dead and damaging some 1.5 million homes.

The Anglican Communion needs to be actively involved in helping the rebuilding and healing of Haiti, working with the Église Épiscopale d’Haïti (the Anglican/Episcopal Diocese of Haiti) and its bishop the Rt Revd Zaché Duracin. This was the message that Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa wanted to share with the wider Communion after a visit to Haiti 4-7 March 2010.

Following the first meeting of the 'Evangelism and Church Growth Initiative' Core Group, from 11 to 15 January 2010, the first edition of the Evangelism and Church Growth Initiative Newsletter has been produced. To receive this quarterly publication in future, please complete the registration form or email stuart.buchanan@anglicancommunion.org The Newsletter can be found here: http://www.aco.org/ministry/mission/ecgi/newsletters/index.cfm  

Some 35 members of the Anglican Peace and Justice Network (APJN) will meet in Geneva, Switzerland, from 13 - 20 March, 2010. Representing over 20 countries and all the world’s continents, participants will learn more about making their voices heard within the UN system in Geneva. In parallel, they will be introduced to UN policies and programmes to inform their own work on peace and justice worldwide.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was yesterday presented with the Russian Order of Friendship, for his “outstanding contribution to the cooperation and friendly relations between Russia and the UK”.

Meeting in Canterbury at the beginning of Lent 2010, the first meeting of the Steering Group of TEAC2, established by ACC 14 in Jamaica in May 2009, has been nourished and undergirded by the Scripture-soaked worship of this Cathedral in which we have been privileged to share.

The second meeting of the Anglican-Methodist International Commission for Unity in Mission (AMICUM) has taken place near Bath, England, 19-26 February 2010, hosted by the World Methodist Council, at the Ammerdown Centre. The Commission benefited greatly from the opportunity to visit and celebrate Holy Communion in the New Room in Bristol, and to see some of the historical memorabilia held in Wesley College, Bristol.

Thousands of women from around the world, including more than 90 representing the Anglican Communion, will gather in New York March 1-12 for the 54th session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women to undertake a 15-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

On 22 February, the third day of his visit to the Holy Land, the Archbishop of Canterbury was received in a series of meetings by the three most senior heads of churches in Jerusalem: His Beatitude Theophilus III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and members of the Holy Synod, His Beatitude Torkom II, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, and His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Archbishop Bryce, who was 75, had led the Diocese of Polynesia for almost 35 years – and he was, at time of his death, the longest-serving bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2006 he was also chosen as one of the three leaders of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

Following the resolution passed at ACC-14 to promote 'Evangelism and Church Growth Initiative' a Core Group of Animators has been appointed to take the work forward under the auspices of the Mission Department of the Anglican Communion. Its first meeting took place at St Columba’s, Woking, UK, from 11 to 15 January 2010.

In a wide-ranging address to the General Synod in London, the Archbishop of Canterbury discusses the nature of human freedom and the value of listening and learning from one another, in both national and international debates, as well as those occurring during Synod this week.

Christians throughout the world should be aware that the date of Easter as calculated by both Eastern and Western traditions in Christianity will fall on the same day in both 2010 and 2011.

Representatives of Anglican Churches in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States together with Anglican Church-backed non-governmental organisations conducted a fruitful discussion to design the plans and future operations of the Anglican Refugee and Migrant Network (ARMN) at the Consultation on ARMN held from 11 to 14 January 2010 at St. John’s Cathedral in Hong Kong.

Statement from the Synod of Bishops, 8-11 February 2010 The Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) gathered with the Diocese of Swaziland in the blessing of their new Conference Suite at Thokoza (Joy), the Anglican Conference Centre in Swaziland. We then continued our meeting in that tranquil setting, giving thanks for the spirit of joy and fraternal charity that undergirded all our proceedings and which enabled us to conduct our work in an atmosphere of prayer.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, today expressed his regret at the decision of the Most Revd Dr Mouneer Anis, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, and President Bishop of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, to resign from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion: