The Anglican Dioceses of Lichfield and Singapore have announced a new strategic mission partnership.
The announcement was made at a service in Lichfield Cathedral on Sunday at which existing agreements between the Diocese of Lichfield and Anglican dioceses in Malaysia, Canada and South Africa were renewed.
The new agreement was signed by the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, and the Dean of Singapore, the Very Rev Kuan Kim Seng, on behalf of Archbishop John Chew. It means that the Diocese of Lichfield is now linked with all four dioceses in the Province of South East Asia; and with the new missionary deaneries being created by the Province in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal. The new deaneries are a sign of the rapid growth of the Anglican Church in the region and are expected to become fully fledged dioceses in their own right.
The new agreement with the Diocese of Singapore, and the renewal of the agreements with the dioceses of West Malaysia (Malaysia), Kuching (Malaysian Borneo), Qu'Appelle (Canada) and Matlosane (South Africa) came at the end of two weeks of international mission activity taking place in and around the Lichfield Diocese under the banner CrossTalk.
Around 35 local parish missions have taken place, involving visiting clergy, laity and young people from the dioceses already mentioned, plus Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg in north-east Germany. In addition to the local missions there has also been an international mission conference, and a festival celebrating the work of the different dioceses.
Archbishop John Chew, Bishop of Singapore and Primate of South East Asia, is currently in England supporting the Archbishop of Canterbury ahead of the Lambeth Conference as a member of the Windsor Continuation Group, working on issues of Anglican Identity and the Covenant Process.
