Anglican Communion New General Secretary Officially Installed

The new Secretary General of the Anglican Communion the Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon has officially been commissioned under the witness of Holy Spirit and members of the Communion across the world in St Andrew's House Chapel in London. It marks the start of a new page of history of the Anglican Communion.

The service itself showed the diversity within the Communion which has over 77-million members all over the world. Prayer Books and service books used during the service were taken from Kenya, Ireland, the USA, New Zealand and England. The music also included hymns, songs and chants from Africa, Ireland, England and South America.

A selection from the writings of the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, was read during the service.

The Head of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, presided at the liturgy and preached the homily.

Currently, the rift between conservatives and liberals brought by the debate on homosexual clergy, same-sex communion and women bishop consecration is in deadlock. Archbishop Rowan spoke of the challenges that await the new Secretary General, especially he emphasised the unity in Christ as a Communion.

"So Christ takes hold of us and we of him. He becomes part of our life, our identity. He has made it by his grace and freedom, so that we become part of him, his body," he said. "As we seek to live out the apostolic calling, we have to see ourselves as bound, bound up, in him, and bound up in each other. To minister to a Communion – not just to one church, one congregation, one locality – to minister to a Communion worldwide, is surely to minister into this reality. We are bound together, because we are bound in Christ; bound in the one hope of our calling. Prisoners of hope, together. There is nothing we need more than to be reminded of how we are bound with Christ and with one another in that way."

Following the words of commissioning, Archbishop Rowan gave Canon Kearon a Compass Rose symbol as a mark of his new office, especially created by Canterbury Pewter in Virginia.

Special prayers were offered for the victims of the Tsunami disaster during the one-hour service. Also, a special offering for the use of the Primate of Southeast Asia for disaster relief, was collected.

Around 100 prominent leaders attended the service, including the Rt Revd John Paterson, chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council; the Most Revd Clive Handford, Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East; the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd John Neill; the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Revd Robert Willis; and the Dean of St Paul's London, the Very Revd John Moses; the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral Dublin, the Very Revd Desmond Harmon, and Mrs Fung Yi Wong from Hong Kong.

Ecumenical guests from the Russian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Council and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster were invited to the service as well.

The upcoming Secretary General the Revd Canon Kenneth Arthur Kearon was born in Dublin in 1953. He attended Trinity College in Dublin where he studied Mental and Moral Science for a degree in Philosophy. After further study in Cambridge and Dublin, he was ordained deacon in 1981 and priest in 1982. He is a member of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, Co-ordinator of Auxilliary Ministry (NSM) Training in the church, and a member of the Irish Council for Bioethics. His specialised research areas are Education, Family and Medical Ethics. He has written a number of books on these topics, one of which entitled Medical Ethics: an Introduction (Columba 1995).

The Rt Revd John Paterson, chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, said, "I am delighted to welcome Canon Kearon on behalf of the ACC, the most representative body in the Anglican Communion."