Anglicans set vision for one million new churches worldwide

Anglicans set vision for one million new churches worldwide

The Anglican Communion has announced an ambitious goal of planting or restoring one million churches over the next decade through its newly unveiled Vision36 programme. The initiative, presented to a meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Belfast, envisaged a new era in which making disciples will be complemented by multiplying healthy, deeply rooted congregations across the world. Canon Robert Sihubwa from Zambia said the vision was about taking the Church to the people. The programme aims to bring as many as twenty million new members into the family of God, with every believer taking responsibility for helping at least one other person grow in faith. Participants explored how Vision36 could be applied in countries where church planting faces legal restrictions, with encouraging reports of remarkable growth across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Council heard that biblical faithfulness, authentic community, and missional partnership were hallmarks of congregations most effectively reaching people with the Gospel.