The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London,the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarised in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571). The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity,recognised as primus inter pares,but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England. Most,but not all,member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches.
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices,liturgy,and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation,in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity,with around 110 million adherents worldwide as of 2001.
The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion,as measured by baptised membership,after the Church of England. In 2016 it stated that its membership was “over 18 million",out of a total Nigerian population of 190 million. It is "effectively the largest province in the Communion." As measured by active membership,the Church of Nigeria has nearly 2 million active baptised members. According to a study published by Cambridge University Press in the Journal of Anglican Studies,there are between 4.94 and 11.74 million Anglicans in Nigeria. The Church of Nigeria is the largest Anglican province on the continent of Africa,accounting for 41.7% of Anglicans in Sub-Saharan Africa,and is "probably the first [largest within the Anglican Communion] in terms of active members."
The Continuing Anglican movement,also known as the Anglican Continuum,encompasses a number of Christian churches,principally based in North America,that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion.
Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS),formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia,located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria,Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States.
The Anglican Communion Primates' Meetings are regular meetings of the primates in the Anglican Communion,i.e. the principal archbishops or bishops of each ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion. There are currently 38 primates of the Anglican Communion. The primates come together from the geographic provinces around the world for discussion and consultation. As primus inter pares of the communion,the Archbishop of Canterbury chairs the meetings,with the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) serving as secretary.
Robert William Duncan is an American Anglican bishop. He was the first primate and archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) from June 2009 to June 2014. In 1997,he was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. In 2008,a majority of the diocesan convention voted to leave the diocese and the Episcopal Church and,in October 2009,named their new church the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. Duncan served as bishop for the new Anglican diocese until 10 September 2016 upon the installation of his successor,Jim Hobby.
The Anglican Church of Tanzania is a province of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 28 dioceses headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East Africa in 1970,which it shared with Kenya. The current primate and archbishop is Maimbo Mndolwa,enthroned on 20 May 2018.
Kallistos Ware was an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church. From 1982,he held the titular bishopric of Diokleia in Phrygia,later made a titular metropolitan bishopric in 2007,under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He was one of the best-known modern Eastern Orthodox hierarchs and theologians. From 1966 to 2001,he was Spalding Lecturer of Eastern Orthodox Studies at the University of Oxford.
Ian Stephen Markham is an Episcopal priest and the Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) since August 2007. Previously,he served at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut as Dean and Professor of Theology and Ethics.
Graham Kings is an English Church of England bishop,theologian and poet. In retirement in Cambridge,having served as Bishop of Sherborne and then Mission Theologian in the Anglican Communion,he is an Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Ely and Research Associate at the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide,which he founded in 1996. His latest books are:Nourishing Connections,Nourishing Mission:Theological Settings,Exchange of Gifts:The Vision of Simon Barrington-Ward,edited with Ian Randall.
Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon is a Nigerian Anglican bishop. Since 2015,he has been Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council. He was previously the Bishop of Kaduna diocese and the Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna in the Church of Nigeria.
The Cross of St Augustine is an award of merit in the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is awarded to members of the Anglican Communion who have made significant contributions to the life of the worldwide Communion,or to a particular autonomous church within Anglicanism. It is also awarded to members of other traditions who have made a conspicuous contribution to ecumenism. It is the second highest international award for service within Anglicanism.
Donald Leo Mtetemela is a former Tanzanian Anglican archbishop. He was archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church of Tanzania,from 1998 to 2008. He is married and has seven children.
Lucien Lee Kinsolving was first bishop of the missionary diocese that eventually became the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil. He was a graduate of the Virginia Theological Seminary.
David B. Barrett was a British visiting professor at Columbia University,an Anglican priest,and research secretary for the Anglican Consultative Council.
Duncan James Dormor is a priest in the Church of England. Since January 2018,he has been the General Secretary of the United Society Partners in the Gospel,the Anglican mission agency founded in 1701. He was Dean of St John's College,Cambridge,from 2002 to 2017.
The fifteenth Lambeth Conference was an assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the archbishop of Canterbury,Justin Welby,between 27 July and 7 August 2022. It was the first Lambeth Conference to be held since 2008.
Terrell Lyles Glenn Jr. is an American bishop of the Anglican Church in North America. He is a former Episcopal priest who played an active role in the Anglican realignment in the United States. Consecrated in 2008 to serve as a bishop in the Anglican Mission in the Americas,Glenn is now an assisting bishop overseeing North Carolina congregations in the Diocese of the Carolinas.
John Hewitt Rodgers Jr. (1930–2022) was an American Anglican theologian and bishop. The author of multiple commentaries on the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion,he was a founding faculty member at Trinity School for Ministry and served as its dean and president from 1978 to 1990. In 2000,he played a role in the global Anglican realignment when he was consecrated as a bishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda to oversee congregations in North America through the Anglican Mission in America.
