THE Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, have initiated a review of the operational priorities of the Anglican Communion Office (ACO).

The review team, which will determine new priorities in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown, will be chaired by the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Thabo Makgoba.

Based in London, the ACO is the permanent administrative office for the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates’ Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference. It helps to develop the areas of mission and discipleship, theological education, gender justice, representation to the United Nations, communications, and administration.

Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon said: “A ‘new normal’ is emerging. It is too early to say what that ‘new normal’ will look like, but it is clear that the assumptions and priorities of the past are not the assumptions and priorities for the future. The work and ministry of our member Churches is being changed. We need to change, too, in order to help them in that work and ministry. One thing that won’t change is the priority of all of us to be God’s Church in God’s world; but the world has changed, and this review will help us to discern how we be God’s Church in these changing times.”

The ACO’s review committee expects to produce an interim report by the end of June, and its final report by the end of August. This will be considered by the Standing Committee in September via a video conference.