The Diocese of Banks and Torres is one of the ten current dioceses of the Anglican Church of Melanesia.
The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to the northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba.
Founded on 12 May 1996 and currently made up of thirteen islands, divided into three regions and sixteen districts (parishes), the diocese was the first from which indigenous Melanesians were ordained into the priesthood. Veverao, on Mota, was the first Christian village established, and the Mota language was used by the first Christian missions to Melanesia. The Mass was first celebrated there by John Patteson.
Bishops of Banks and Torres | |||
---|---|---|---|
From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
1996 | 2000 | Charles Ling | First bishop; consecrated and installed at the inauguration of the Diocese on 12 May 1996. [1] |
2001 | 2013 | Nathan Tome | Second bishop; consecrated and installed on 24 May 2001; [2] elected first Bishop of Guadalcanal after the diocese was split. [3] |
2014 | present | Patterson Worek | Third bishop; consecrated 2 March 2014. [4] |
Torba is the northernmost and least populous province of Vanuatu. It consists of the Banks Islands and the Torres Islands.
The Torres Islands are an island chain in the Torba Province of the country of Vanuatu, the country’s northernmost island group. The chain of islands that make up this micro-archipelago straddles the broader cultural boundary between Island Melanesia and several Polynesian outliers located in the neighbouring Solomon Islands. To the island chain’s north is Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, to its south is Espiritu Santo, and to its southeast are the Banks Islands. To the west, beneath the ocean surface, is the deep Torres Trench, which is the subduction zone between the Australian Plate and Pacific Plate.
The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to their northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The island group lies about 40 km (25 mi) north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu. In 2009, the islands had a population of 8,533. The island group's combined land area is 780 km2 (300 sq mi).
The Melanesian Brotherhood is an Anglican religious community of men in simple vows based primarily in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea.
The Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACoM), also known as the Church of the Province of Melanesia and the Church of Melanesia (COM), is a church of the Anglican Communion and includes nine dioceses in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The Archbishop of Melanesia is Leonard Dawea. He succeeds the retired archbishop George Takeli.
Mota is an island in the Banks group of northern Vanuatu. Its population – today about 700 people – speak the Mota language, which Christian missionaries of the Anglican Church used as a lingua franca in parts of Melanesia.
Ureparapara is the third largest island in the Banks group of northern Vanuatu, after Gaua and Vanua Lava.
Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. It is the most conservative Torres–Banks language, and the only one to keep its inherited five-vowel system intact while also preserving most final vowels.
The Melanesian Mission is an Anglican missionary agency supporting the work of local Anglican churches in Melanesia. It was founded in 1849 by George Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand.
Sir David Okete Vuvuiri Vunagi,, is a retired Solomon Islands Anglican bishop who served as governor-general of Solomon Islands from 2019 to 2024. He was the archbishop of Melanesia and bishop of the Diocese of Central Melanesia from 2009 to 2015.
James Marvin Ligo was the Anglican Bishop of Vanuatu and New Caledonia, one of the eight dioceses that make up the Anglican Church of Melanesia. He was consecrated and installed as Bishop of Vanuatu on 15 October 2006; the name of his diocese was changed during his time, so he became Bishop of Vanuatu and New Caledonia; he was succeeded as bishop by James Tama.
James Philip Mason is a retired vicar in the Church of England and a former bishop in the Church of the Province of Melanesia.
Charles Welchman Ling was the inaugural Bishop of Banks and Torres.
Nathan Tome is an Anglican bishop.
The Diocese of Hanuato'o is one of the ten current dioceses of the Anglican Church of Melanesia; it was erected in 1991 and inaugurated at St George's Church, Kirakira on St Peter's Day, 29 June 1991. That church is now her cathedral, rededicated as St Peter's Cathedral; the diocese is divided into fifteen parishes.
The Diocese of Malaita is one of the ten current dioceses of the Anglican Church of Melanesia. One of the four original ACOM dioceses, Malaita diocese was erected in January 1975; it is currently subdivided into six regions of 46 parishes.
The Diocese of Temotu is one of the ten dioceses within the Anglican Church of Melanesia. Established in 1981, it has contributed three of its six bishops to the role of archbishop of the province.
The Diocese of Vanuatu and New Caledonia is one of the ten dioceses within the Anglican Church of Melanesia.
The Diocese of Ysabel is one of the ten current dioceses within the Anglican Church of Melanesia.
Richard Naramana was the fifth Anglican Bishop of Ysabel, one of the nine dioceses that make up the Anglican Church of Melanesia. He was consecrated and installed on 18 April 2004; and retired in September 2015.