The Anglican Communion Office is the main support body for the Anglican Communion across the globe.

The Anglican Communion is served by four “instruments of communion” – all of which are provided for in some way administratively by the Anglican Communion office. These are:

 

• The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby: The Anglican Communion Office liaises closely with his office at Lambeth Palace.

 

• The Primates Meeting: the primates from around the Communion meet regularly, chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

 

• The Anglican Consultative Council: this body was

established in 1968 and meets every three years to develop Anglican policies. It advises, reviews and implements Anglican matters. The Anglican Communion Office acts as its permanent secretariat.

 

• The Lambeth Conference: For the past 12 months the Anglican Communion Office has been particularly focused on the forthcoming Lambeth Conference – the one gathering every 10 years of the Communion. It will be held this summer in Canterbury.

 

The office is led by the Communion’s secretary general, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, and a team of more than 20 other experts in issues such as mission, ecumenism, gender justice and theological education.

 

The Anglican Communtion Office mission statement says:

 

"The Anglican Communion Office supports the institutional life of the Communion and serves it 38 provinces in 165 countries by:

• Providing the administrative support for Communion meetings and implementing their decisions
• Nurturing relations and learning among the churches of the Communion to facilitate their growth through intentional discipleship and the living out of our shared Five Marks of Mission
• Enabling the Communion to have a distinctive voice in dialogues with other Christian traditions, discussions with other faiths and engagement with United Nations bodies
• Building partnerships internationally to work for justice, peace and sustainable development and give a voice to the voiceless and the oppressed.

In all this, it seeks to honour and glorify Jesus Christ as Lord".

 

Given the Office’s keen interest in and commitment to ecumenism, there are strong links with the Anglican Centre in Rome. This is further reinforced by the presence of the Office’s chief operating officer, David White, on the governing body of the Anglican Centre. The current chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Most Revd Dr Paul Kwong, is also on the governing body of the Anglican Centre.

 

The Anglican Communion Office is based at St Andrew’s House in London. While much of the Communion’s work is conducted in English, other languages, especially in Africa are used and the Communion Office is now offering its news service in Spanish and French to reflect this.

 

You can contact the Anglican Communion Office at St Andrew's House,
16 Tavistock Crescent,  London W11 1AP

Tel: +44 0207 313 3900

Email: [email protected]