A £750,000 grant has been made available to help Anglican bishops from developing countries meet the costs of taking part in the Lambeth Conference.
Preparations are in fullswing for the conference that brings together all active bishops in the Anglican Communion once every 10 years.
The conference takes place in Canterbury, England, and while all active bishops are invited, the costs of travel and accommodation can make it challenging for those from developing countries to attend.
The grant has been made available by the Allchurches Trust, owners of the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, and is the largest received to date by conference organisers.
Chairman of the Allchurches Trust, Sir Philip Mawer said it was important that the voice of Christians, including those from the Global South, is heard.
'Our heart is in the Church, in the Christian religion, and in the Anglican Church in particular,' he said. 'That is why we are deeply committed to making sure that the Christian voice is heard on the key issues of the day – we believe that the conference in 2020 will enable that to be delivered; it is increasingly important in a secular society and world that that voice is heard.
'And within that it is crucially important that the voice of the Global South and disadvantaged areas is heard too.'
Lambeth 2020 organiser Phil George said the grant would make a big difference to bishops and their spouses.
'We are very aware that many people around the Communion, including the spouses of course, will not be able to afford to fly across to England or, of course, pay the conference fee,' he said. 'So this grant is going to go a long way to helping those who are on very low incomes to be able to afford to come and attend the conference.'
Lambeth 2020 takes place from 24 July to 3 August at the University of Kent in Canterbury.
