By ACNS staff

The Anglican Communion Office (ACO) in London is welcoming today some 30 young Anglican seminarians and newly ordained clergy from Burundi, Canada, Ghana, Kenya, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, the UK, the USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The visit is part of the two-week Canterbury Scholars Programme at Canterbury Cathedral. The programme provides “opportunities for Anglican/Episcopalian Christians from around the Anglican Communion to pray, study and live together”.

The visitors are learning about the work of the Anglican Communion Office through best practice stories told by staff members and will spend some time in worship.

“It is the first time for me in Europe, the roots of the Anglican Communion. I like the beauty of having so much diversity across the Communion, still sharing the same practice. When we are together we can also feel the pain of others, for instance what is happening now in Nigeria, and pray for one another,” says Norman Cretin from the Diocese of Mauritius of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean, who was ordained last October.

The programme is an opportunity for seminarians and newly ordained clergy to share their own experiences, learn about other cultures and contexts of mission, and reflect on serving the Anglican Communion in various parts of the world.

After the visit to the Anglican Communion Office the seminarians are travelling on to Lambeth Palace to meet with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.