The Anglican Communion is beginning its search for three senior directors. The posts are the Director of Unity, Faith and Order and the Director for Communications – which are both based at the Anglican Communion Office in London – and the Director for the Anglican Centre in Rome.

The Director of Unity, Faith and Order leads and supports the work of the ecumenical dialogues between the Anglican Communion and other Christian churches. The Director also leads the work of IASCUFO – the Inter-Anglican Standing Committee on Unity, Faith and Order. The current Director, Canon Dr John Gibaut, has been in the post for four years. He announced last month that he was returning to his native Canada to become President, Provost and Vice-Chancellor of Thorneloe University.

The new Communications Director will lead communications for the Lambeth Conference in 2020 as well as running communications for the Communion. This includes overseeing day-to-day editorial output on three websites and social media channels, providing communications support for the Secretary General and the Secretariat and liaising with media. The current Director, Adrian Butcher, is to move on in May after the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Hong Kong.

The Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome plays a central role between the Communion and the Vatican by maintaining the formal representation to the Holy See on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury and providing a symbol of the Communion’s commitment to the vision of greater unity. The role includes identifying and promoting joint Anglican-Roman Catholic work.

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon said, “These are significant senior appointments in the Anglican Communion. The post of Director of Faith and Unity is vitally important in bringing together different traditions and working towards the visible unity of Christian churches.

“And it will be an exciting challenge for our new Communications Director with next year’s Lambeth Conference getting ever closer and ongoing work to be done to highlight the Communion’s work around the world. And the Anglican Centre in Rome is a practical symbol of work towards Church unity. The role of Director is a pivotal one.

“I am immensely grateful to Canon Dr John Gibaut and Adrian Butcher for their hard work and professionalism during their time at the ACO”, he said. “We will miss their expertise and wisdom and they will also be sorely missed as colleagues.”

The posts are advertised on the Anglican Communion website.