During this time of global lockdown, the Anglican Communion Office has suspended most of its programmatic activity. International travel is effectively impossible and so the usual round of meetings cannot take place. At the same time, the attention of primates, bishops and other provincial staff are focussed on supporting their people and their churches during this unprecedented pandemic.

As a result of this, some 14 Anglican Communion staff have been, or are in the process of being, furloughed, with the support of the UK government’s Covid-19 job retention scheme. These staff members are, effectively, under extended leave of absence and will return to work when the conditions are rights.

The Anglican Communion Office is continuing to function, albeit at a reduced capacity and with staff working from home, in accordance with official guidance by the authorities in London and New York. The departmental Directors at the ACO are using this time to re-evaluate their activities and priorities to enable the ACO to more effectively support member churches in their response to this changed world.

In March 2020, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, and the five primates elected to represent their regions on the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion, wrote a joint letter to the Anglican Communion about the Covid-19 pandemic. You can read it here.