Secretary General of the Anglican Communion

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion is the chief administrative officer of the Anglican Communion, which encompasses over 85 million Anglicans in more than 165 countries.^[4]

Secretary General of the Anglican Communion
Incumbent Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo[1] since 1 September 2022
Formation	1968
First holder	Ralph Dean[2]
Deputy	Rt. Rev. Jo Bailey Wells[3]
Website	Anglican Communion Office

Role and Responsibilities

The Secretary General heads the Anglican Communion's secretariat, based at St Andrew’s House in London, UK. The role involves overseeing the administrative aspects of the Communion's operations, including:^[5]

• Managing the preparation and execution of meetings of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates' Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference.
• Supporting the Communion's engagement with the United Nations and other ecumenical and international bodies.
• Facilitating communication and collaboration among the various member churches of the Anglican Communion.

History

The position of Secretary General was established following the creation of the Anglican Consultative Council at the Lambeth Conference in 1968. Before this, the role was known as the "Executive Officer of the Anglican Communion."^[6] The first Secretary General was Ralph Dean, who served from 1969 to 1971.^[7]

List of Secretaries General

Secretary General	Term of Office
Ralph Dean	1969–1971[7]
John Howe	1971–1982[8]
Sam Van Culin	1982–1994
John Peterson	1994–2004
Kenneth Kearon	2005–2015
Josiah Idowu-Fearon	2015–2022[9]
Anthony Poggo	2022–present

Selection

The Secretary General is appointed by the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council, which acts on behalf of the entire Communion's leadership.^[5]

See also

• Anglican Communion
• Lambeth Conference
• Anglican Consultative Council