Anglican Communion News Service

As President of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt Hon George L Carey, will call together Anglicans from around the world, laity and clergy, people from all walks of life, to discuss the work, worship and witness of the Anglican Communion around the world. The Archbishop of Canterbury will preach a sermon at a major Diocesan Mass on Sunday October 13 at 9am. The actual ACC meeting runs from October 10 through to October 20. The ACC meets every two to three years and has as its membership representatives from each of the 36 Provinces of the Anglican Communion world-wide. There are 70 million Anglicans in over 161 countries around the world and they look to the ACC for resolutions and decisions on major issues facing the church today. The decisions of the ACC are not binding but provide a means whereby difficult issues can be addressed.

The Chairman of the ACC is the Revd Canon Colin Craston, Church of England, and the Vice Chairman is the Rt Revd Simon Chiwanga, Bishop of Mpwapwa in Tanzania. The Revd Canon John L Peterson serves as the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and will give the opening address at the meeting. The host Bishop is the Rt Revd Clarence Hayes.

There will be daily press releases, and photos will be available on a regular basis from the meeting in Panama. We invite you to direct your enquiries to the ACC at the Anglican Communion Office in London until the beginning of the conference when a direct fax and telephone number will be announced.