Anglican Communion Renews Mission & Evangelism Focus with New Appointment

The Anglican Communion, as part of a co-operative venture with the Church Mission Society (CMS), has announced the appointment of the Revd John Kaoma Kafwanka as Mission and Evangelism Desk Officer for the Anglican Communion.

Rev Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office (ACO), made the announcement after the position became available following the recent retirement of the Anglican Communion Office Director of Mission and Evangelism, Mrs Marjorie Murphy.

The Anglican Communion has united with CMS in looking at the new appointment as an opportunity to look at global and evangelisation work in a concentrated way.

Canon Kearon said, "The ACO is encouraged by this new level of team work with CMS. The secondment of John Kafwanka, I trust, will pave the way for appropriate links with others working in the various areas of ministry we are charged with by the Anglican Communion Instruments of Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury."

|QUOTE|The renewed focus on mission and evangelisation has come following ACO's ongoing relationship with the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) in the area of theological education.

Canon Tim Dakin, General Secretary of CMS, said, "We are delighted to be working with the ACO to further the work of mission and evangelism in the Communion. John Kafwanka's will enrich the Anglicanism's understanding of mission, especially through his knowledge of the Church of the South and its evangelistic effectiveness."

John Kafwanka has worked for the Church Mission Society (CMS) as a Regional Co-ordinator in Lusaka, Zambia in Southern Africa. Ordained in 1994, to the priesthood, served St John's in Zambia and was also the principal and rector for the national seminary.

He has testified, "I am looking forward to working within the Anglican Communion Office with the hope of widening his experiences in mission work and increasing the visibility of mission endeavours in our churches."

"God's mission to humanity in a holistic sense, where it is God's mission and not the Church's mission. Thus wider and bigger than we can envisage," Kafwanka described.

The Anglican Communion explained that some of the duties will consist not only of researching Mission and Evangelism and other key issues, but also surveying the work of the Member Churches of the Communion with respect to mission and evangelism, and identifying further needs and resources.