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About Us

The Anglican Communion Office (ACO) is the UK registered Secretariat of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and also home to the Anglican Alliance and the Lambeth Conference Company. The staff are led by the Secretary General, and all activities undertaken by ACC staff are reported to the ACC. Direct oversight is provided by the Standing Committee, which includes the Chair and Vice-Chair of the ACC and together make up the body of trustees. The Archbishop of Canterbury is President of the ACC.

The Instruments of Communion

The Churches of the Anglican Communion have traditionally expressed their common life through the Instruments of Communion: the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates’ Meeting.

The Archbishop of Canterbury: The Churches and provinces are all in communion with the See of Canterbury in the Church of England, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury in their person and ministry is the unique focus of Anglican unity. The Archbishop of Canterbury calls the Lambeth Conference and Primates’ Meeting, and is President of the Anglican Consultative Council. The 105th Archbishop of Canterbury in succession to St Augustine, The Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, was enthroned in March 2013.

The Lambeth Conference: Every ten years or so, the Archbishop of Canterbury invites the bishops of the Anglican Communion to join in prayer, study and discernment. In recent decades this has been at Canterbury Cathedral and the campus of the University of Kent. Over 650 bishops were welcomed to the last Lambeth Conference in 2008. The Lambeth Conference will gather in July 2022.

The Anglican Consultative Council: In 1968 the bishops of the Lambeth Conference requested the establishment of a body representative of all sections of the Churches (bishops, clergy and laity) to coordinate international Anglican ecumenical and mission work. With the consent of the legislative bodies of all the provinces, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) first met in 1971, and has met regularly since. The 18th meeting of the ACC is scheduled for 2023.

The Primates’ Meeting: Since 1979 the Archbishop of Canterbury has invited the primates (ie the presiding bishop, archbishop or moderator) of the Member Churches of the Anglican Communion (currently 42) to join in regular meetings for leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation.

Governance

The ACC is an incorporated body, registered both as a company and as a charity in England. Its governing Constitution consists of its company articles, in which the Member Churches of the Anglican Communion are listed. The ACC exercises functions on behalf of the Archbishop and other Instruments as well as on its own initiative, employing staff at the Anglican Communion Office and holding funds.

Both the ACC and the Primates’ Meeting elect a standing committee from among their own number. The members of the Primates’ Standing Committee are ex-officio members of ACC and of its Standing Committee. This Standing Committee meets three times per year, and its members are the trustees of the ACC.

The Anglican Consultative Council meets every three years. It recommends to the Churches of the Communion via resolutions, mandating work to be done by Commissions and Networks of the Communion, and commending texts to the Churches for reception.

The Five Marks of Mission

 The ACO frames its work within the Five Marks of Mission as last defined by ACC-14 and as such these shape the overall strategic objectives for the ACO. The Five Marks of Mission as a statement of the Anglican Communion’s vocation have now become widely embedded across the life of the Anglican Communion. They provide an overall framework for everything that the ACC does and, therefore, infuse each workstream of the ACO and act as unifying principles, encouraging working across the different departments.

The Five Marks of Mission:

The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ.

  1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
  2. To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
  3. To respond to human need by loving service
  4. To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation
  5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth

The Anglican Communion Office

The Anglican Communion Office, based at St Andrew’s House in London is the permanent secretariat for the Instruments of Communion. The ACO has a role in supporting each of the Instruments of Communion and the Member Churches of the Communion as they seek together to serve the Kingdom of God. The staff facilitate worldwide collaboration, sharing and dialogue for effective church mission to build a Christ-centred Anglican Communion founded on friendship, respect and a common life.

The secretariat is heavily involved in organising meetings of the conciliar Instruments of Communion, as well as supporting the Commissions, working parties and Networks of the Anglican Communion as appropriate. Funding comes from the Inter-Anglican budget to which all Member Churches contribute according to their means, from the Compass Rose Society, and other charities and foundations.

Responding to requests from the Standing Committee and the Instruments of Communion, the office is currently organised into seven areas – The Secretary General’s Office; Administration and Logistics; Communications and IT; Finance and Facilities; Unity, Faith and Order; Theological Education; Gender Justice; and the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations. The Anglican Alliance and Lambeth Conference Company are separately organised with their own management structures and occupy office space at St Andrew’s House. They share many facilities with the Anglican Communion Office and staff from both work together.