Photo: Art Babych
With additional reporting by Sean Frankling
Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has been chosen by her fellow primates in the Americas region to serve on the Anglican Communion’s primates’ standing commit-tee. She succeeds the bishop of Panama, Julio Murray, who will shortly step down as archbishop of Central America.
The primates’ standing committee comprises five primates, one from each region. It rarely meets separately, as the five regional primates serve as members of the wider Anglican Communion standing committee, alongside members elected by the Anglican Consultative Council, a larger policy-making body which meets every two or three years.
The standing committee is the Consultative Council’s executive branch, tasked with promoting international unity in the church and overseeing its mission work. Its portfolio includes coordinating the international work of the church, its Instruments of Communion and the international networks and commissions the church sets up to work on matters like interfaith relations and global peace and justice work.
“I am honoured to be elected by my colleagues to represent the Americas region,” Nicholls said. “As the bishop of Huron before becoming primate of Canada I delighted in a companion diocese relationship with Amazonia and the province of Brazil, and sharing in ministry with The Episcopal Church through the presid-ing bishop. I look forward to deepening relationships across the other areas of the region and representing them on the standing committee and the Anglican Consultative Council in coming months.”g