The Primates’ Meeting in Canterbury
Statement from Archbishop Brown Turei
January 7th 2016

Archbishop Brown Turei is asking the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia to hold in prayer the upcoming meeting of the Anglican Primates.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has invited the 38 Primates to Canterbury, in England, to reflect and pray on the future of the Anglican Communion. The Primates are the leaders of 38 autonomous national and regional churches that make up the Communion. They will determine the agenda, and the way the meeting proceeds, once they arrive.

The gathering of the Primates begins on Monday 11th January. Archbishop Philip Richardson and Archbishop Winston Halapua, as Primates of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia will attend.

Archbishop Brown was invited as a Primate but is not attending. “All three of us, as Primates, speak for each other and so Archbishops Winston and Philip carry my voice to Canterbury next week and I wish to hold them in prayer with the work they have to do,” says Archbishop Brown Turei.

The Archbishop recalls attending previous Primates’ Meetings where there was division, rather than seeking a future together to address what he calls the reality of diversity.

Archbishop Brown says the three-tikanga model of the church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia puzzled the Anglican Communion when it became a reality. “The fact that the invitation to Canterbury was to all three of us as Primates demonstrates an appreciation of a model that reflects diversity and I hope that can emerge from Canterbury in the next week.”

The Rev’d Don Tamihere has prepared collects and a form of Intercession and Thanksgiving as ways the Province can hold the Primates’ Meeting in prayer.

See more at the Archbishop of Canterbury's Primates 2016 webpage.