Worldwide Anglican Leaders to Meet in Tanzania

Primates from across the worldwide Anglican Communion will gather for their scheduled meeting 14 to 19 February, 2007 at Jangwani Beach near Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

The 38 Primates (Senior bishops, Presiding Bishops, Moderators) of the Anglican Communion will come together from the geographic provinces around the globe to take part in the meetings chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Rev Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion (AC), will serve as secretary.

As "primus inter pares" - first among equals, the Archbishop of Canterbury will gather his fellow Primates together for Bible study, worship and conversation on the current state of affairs and mission in the global church.

Archbishop Rowan Williams has stated that he is looking to the Primates for guidance on matters relating to the Lambeth Conference 2008 as well as the Episcopal Church's response to the Windsor Report, in light of a special report to be discussed from a sub-committee of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and Primates Standing Committee.

There will also be reports on the Panel of Reference and The Listening Process work. Also on the agenda is the welcoming of Mrs Hellen Wasanga of Uganda as the new Anglican Observer at the United Nations in New York. She will be installed at services in New York at Trinity Church, Wall Street and in Zanzibar Cathedral.

New Primates will be welcomed from countries including Ireland, USA, Scotland, Brazil, Australia, Korea, Japan, Indian Ocean, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Burundi.

This is the first time an Archbishop of York will officially attend a Primates Meeting. Canon Kearon said, "It is the hope that the presence of Dr Sentamu will allow more discussion of church life in Britain, as the Archbishop of Canterbury's focus is heavily global during these gatherings."

On the Sunday of the meeting the Primates will travel by boat to Zanzibar for a Solemn Eucharist in the Anglican Cathedral, where the altar is built over an old slave trading post, as the people of Zanzibar commemorate the 100th anniversary of the last slave sold in Zanzibar and the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in the British empire.

It was also announced that other inter-Anglican meetings will be held around those dates at the same venue.