An international charity that supports the work of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council has announced a sponsorship scheme to enable bishops from poorer countries attend the Lambeth Conference in 2020. The Compass Rose Society announced that $1 million USD (approximately £724,000 GBP) will provide scholarships to bishops requiring financial aid to attend the decennial meeting, which will take place in Canterbury, Kent, between 24 July and 3 August 2020. The funding was agreed at a meeting of the Society’s board of directors this month. The total cost per bishop to attend will be announced later this year when bookings open.

“I am very grateful for this extremely generous donation,” the CEO of the Lambeth Conference Company, Phil George, said in response to the announcement. “The Compass Rose Society has been wonderfully supportive of the Anglican Communion over the years and this is another example of that practical encouragement.

“My hope is to see every bishop from across the Communion coming to the Lambeth Conference in 2020 ready to play a full part. But we recognise that this will be a financial challenge for many. We don’t want funding to be a barrier and so this sponsorship scheme is a significant step in making it more possible for a good number of bishops to attend.”

The board of the Compass Rose Society held their meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, at the invitation of Bishop Jane Alexander, who took the opportunity to introduce the board’s members to her diocese’s work with the indigenous people of the province of Alberta.

The Lambeth Conference Scholarship will be one of the largest donations made by the Society since its formation in 1997. Since then, it has donated more than $10 million to support the mission of the Anglican Communion. Last November, the Society launched a new $10 million endowment fund to continue its support of the Anglican Consultative Council going forward.

At this month’s meeting, the board began the search for a new president of the society. Its current president, Bishop Andrew Doyle of the US-based Episcopal Church’s Diocese of Texas, will stand down after the 2020 Lambeth Conference.

The Society’s 400 members are drawn primarily from the US, Canada, and Hong Kong. Its annual meeting this year will be held at Church House, Westminster, the London-headquarters of the Church of England, from 9-10 October.

• Click here to see membership information about the Compass Rose Society.