Trinity Church Wall Street New York to host celebration of this new ministry.
The new Anglican Observer at the United Nations, Mrs Hellen Grace Akwii-Wangusa of Uganda, will be installed during the 11 a.m. Eucharist at the historic New York Episcopal Church, Trinity and St Paul's, Wall Street on Sunday, February 4th 2007. The Bishop of Auckland, the Rt Revd John Paterson, chair of the world-wide Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), will preach at the service and the rector, the Revd Dr. James Cooper will preside at the Eucharist. This will be followed by a special “handing over” ceremony of Hellen Wangusa to her new position as Anglican Observer, by the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uganda, Mr. Adonia Ayebare.
During the Eucharist, the band Echo Uganda will provide music, and then play at the reception after the service. The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon will be present, as well as members of the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations' Advisory Council; the Permanent Observer for the Holy See Observer Mission to the United Nations, Archbishop Celestino Migliore; Counsellor for the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, Mr. Paul Johnston; as well as representatives from UNIFEM, UNHCR, and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the UN.
The service will be web-cast on Trinity Church's website www.trinitywallstreet.org and can be viewed live or on-demand. The web address is http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/onlinetv/?sermon
Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa, the former United Nations Africa coordinator of the Millennium Development Goals, accepted the call to be the next Anglican Observer at the United Nations in October last year. Speaking last year for ACNS, Hellen said she hopes to strengthen the rich contribution of the Anglican Communion into the political hubs at the United Nations and combine that with the UN committees in Geneva that specialise in humanitarian work. “I am keen to use my representative position to focus on War, Peace and promote diplomatic means of diffusing tensions and resolving conflicts," she said, "and from my ecumenical experience, promote relationships between member churches."
Hellen will be travelling to the meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion and the Anglican Consultative Council and Primates Standing Committee meetings in two weeks time.
At the Sunday Eucharist in Zanzibar Cathedral the UN Observer will again be officially welcomed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The UN Observer has an office provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org The UN web-pages can be found on the main Anglican Communion website - www.anglicancommunion.org/un/
The UN Observer serves as a staff member of the London Anglican Communion Office.
Photos will be available from Trinity Church - http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/