The Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council is meeting from the 13th to the 15th of October in Amman, Jordan, for the annual in-person meeting.
The Anglican Consultative Council is one of the four 'instruments' of the Anglican Communion which advises on the organisation and structures of the Anglican Communion and seeks to develop common policies concerning the world mission of the Church.
The Standing Committee serves as the executive arm of the ACC, charged with advancing its work between its three-yearly plenary meetings.
The meeting is being hosted by Canon Maggie Swinson (Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council) and the Most Revd Hosam Naoum (the Vice Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Archbishop in Jerusalem and Primate of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East).
The meeting began on 13 October, with a pilgrimage to 'Al-Maghtas' or ‘Bethany beyond the Jordan’. A place of spiritual and historic significance, it is believed to be the location where John the Baptist baptised Jesus. Whilst there, the members of the Standing Committee worshipped together and met with the General Director of The Baptism Site Commission, Engineer Rustom Mkhjian.
Earlier that day, the group also attended a worship service at the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf (HLID), located in Salt, Jordan and supported by the Diocese of Jerusalem. The school offers young people who are deaf or deaf-blind the opportunity to access therapeutic services, academic studies and vocational training programs.
The annual meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council Standing Committee will discuss matters relating to the Anglican Communion, hear updates from ACO staff and spend time in prayer and Bible study. Fr Wadie Far, a priest at St George's Cathedral in Jerusalem and originally from Jordan, will be facilitating Bible Studies during the week.
The Standing Committee will also discuss plans for the ACC-19 in 2026, the next in-person meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, which will be hosted in Belfast, by the Church of Ireland.
Looking ahead to ACC-19, Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, Canon Maggie Swinson said, ‘Among the things that we've been doing is to plan for our ACC meeting in Belfast next year, which is very exciting.... we're going to be in a place that understands reconciliation and repentance ...because of its relatively recent history....it will be good for us to learn from and to engage with those things while we're there.'
‘I'm also looking forward to us being able to further some of the work that we are doing as an Anglican Communion, as we set new visions and goals for our various networks and commissions and staff programmes.’
Vice-Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Most Revd Hosam Naoum described the Standing Committee meeting as ‘wonderful’ and that he is ‘looking forward to the meetings to come later this year and also next year in preparation for the next ACC meeting in Belfast.’
Archbishop Naoum invited Anglicans to ‘continue to pray for the Anglican Communion, for the Anglican Consultative Council and for all the people who are doing fantastic ministry for the mission of God in this world.’
Speaking about the meeting, the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, remarked, ‘It's good to meet with members of the Standing Committee as they hear reports of what we have been doing, but also as we prepare for the next meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council.’
Bishop Poggo added, ‘One of the memorable things for me was to go to the baptismal site in the River Jordan and the renewing of our baptismal vows, which was an important part as we prepared ourselves at the start of this meeting.’
Find out more about the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Belfast, 2026.