Central Africa begins preparations for ACC-16

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The Anglican Church in Central Africa has begun preparations to host its first Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting in Zambia’s capital Lusaka in 2016.

Primate of the Church of the Province of Central Africa, the Most Revd Albert Chama told ACNS: “Hosting the ACC means a lot to us. This shows that we belong to the worldwide family of the Anglican Communion.”

He added, “This will also give us an opportunity to interact with other people from around the Communion. This will be a showcase for us as the Anglican Church of Central Africa in terms of how we worship, our culture, experiences and way of life.”

The Primate said this after the first preparatory meeting held at the Zambia Anglican Council (ZAC) offices in Lusaka today. In attendance were all the bishops from Zambia and representative bishops from Malawi and Zimbabwe. The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon also attended the meeting.

“The Church of the Province of Central Africa is so important to the Anglican Communion,” said Canon Kearon.  “It’s one of those provinces where Anglicanism and the Communion are at the heart of its life.”

He added: “We were all delighted when it was announced that the ACC will be held here. I am more than happy with the way the planning is going and I am sure it is going to be a great ACC.”

Over 5,000 people are expected to attend the grand opening ceremony of the event at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the leader of the world wide Anglican Communion and also president of the ACC will also be present.

Archbishop Chama said that it will be a great joy for the church in central Africa to see their “chief pastor, the Archbishop of Canterbury in the province.”

The ACC is one of the four Instruments of Communion. It brings together lay and ordained representatives from all 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion to “exchange information between the provinces and churches and help co-ordinate common action.”

It meets every two or three years in different parts of the world to facilitate the co-operative work of all the churches of the Anglican Communion. The last meeting was held in 2012 in Auckland New Zealand.

By Bellah Zulu

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