The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has honoured 27 people, including peacemakers, nuns, academics and gardeners in the 2019 Lambeth Awards. Archbishop Justin launched the non-academic awards in 2016, and each year presentations have been made to “people who have made an extraordinary contribution to the Church and wider society”, Lambeth Palace said in a statement. This year’s recipients included Bishop Graham Kings, who was award the Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion. His award recognised “his outstanding work in mission and theology for the global South.”

Bishop Graham “has long experience of working in the Anglican Communion, a passion that began early in his career when he spent seven years working as a Mission Partner for the Church Mission Society in Kabare in Kenya”, the citation for his award reads. “On his return to the UK, Bishop Graham was appointed as the first ever Lecturer in Mission Studies at the Cambridge Theological Federation. He then went on to found and direct the Henry Martyn Centre for the Study of Mission and World Christianity. Following stints in more domestic dioceses, including Area Bishop of Sherborne and a Canon and Prebendary of Sarum [Salisbury] Cathedral, Bishop Graham returned to his love of the Anglican Communion, being appointed Mission Theologian in the Anglican Communion.

“The purpose of this innovative project was to raise up new ‘Doctors of the Church’ in the global South to write, network, publish and engage with theologians in the global North, to renew the worldwide Church and to influence wider society.

“Bishop Graham worked tirelessly to achieve this, organising conferences around the world (in Egypt, India, Fiji, Jerusalem and Brazil), arranging regular seminars in Durham and London and creating a website with a wealth of papers and resources.

“After making a unique contribution to the Anglican Communion, Bishop Graham stepped back from the project in 2017 as it merged into a new phase of its development.”

Other recipients of this year’s awards include Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan from the Anglican Church of Canada. Canon Barnett-Cowan, a former Director of Unity, Faith and Order for the Anglican Communion, was awarded the Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism.

“Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan stands in the long tradition of Canadian theologians serving the Anglican Communion in ecumenical dialogue with distinction”, the award citation reads. “In 1977, as a young deacon in the Anglican Church in Canada, Alyson was asked to join an Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue commission in Canada. She went on to take part in, and be secretary of, ecumenical dialogues and commissions at every level, beginning internationally in 1987 as a member of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission.

“Pre-eminent in her ecumenical achievements stands the Waterloo Declaration that led to the establishment of full communion between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. She was a member of the Lambeth Commission on Communion and, in 2009, Alyson was called to take on international duties full time as Director of Unity, Faith and Order at the Anglican Communion Office.

“There she nurtured relationships between the Anglican Communion and all the major Christian world communions. Notably she brought to publication or to the point of publication important agreed statements between Anglicans and Lutheran, Methodist, Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches and marshalled the early days of ARCIC III. As secretary, drafter, editor and redactor, Alyson shaped the relationships of the Anglican Communion and other world communions and, as a result, helped Anglicans define their own ecclesiology.

“In her last months at the Anglican Communion Office she was Acting Secretary General and, on her return to Canada, was elected as President of the Canadian Council of Churches. Her contribution in this sphere has been truly outstanding.”

The award recognises people of different faiths too. University of Edinburgh Professor Mona Siddiqui, described in her citation as amongst the UK’s “most eloquent and articulate advocates for interfaith dialogue and a most cogent commentator on current affairs, religion and public life”, received the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation; as did Laura Marks OBE, a former Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Ms Marks was the founder of Mitzvah Day, which brings people together though Jewish-led social action on a day in November; and Nisa-Nashim, a Jewish-Muslim Women’s Network, which builds understanding and friendship through local groups around the country. “Her contribution to reconciliation and interfaith cooperation has been and continues to be outstanding”, the citation for her award read.

A former CMS missionary partner, Graham Burton, was presented with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation, for 37-years of ministry working to bring peace between Christians and Muslims. in Pakistan for 12 years and in Nottingham for 25 years.”

He used his 12-years’ experience of bridge-building in Pakistan, where he was based between 1992 and 2001, to create a project in England, where he was serving as a Priest in Charge of a parish in Nottingham. “He established a project aimed at sharpening the focus of the church’s mission in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-faith society”, the Citation reads. “From 2007 in retirement, with tremendous grace, he has continued to serve the inner city, facilitating understanding and joint working between Nottingham’s Christians and Muslims, in the complex context of simultaneously supporting Pakistani Christians seeking asylum following persecution for their Christian faith.

“Hundreds of Christians and Muslims have learnt to live well alongside one another through his work.”

Archbishop Justin Welby described presenting the Awards as “a great honour”, adding: “As we look around our world today, we could be tempted to despair at the injustice, inequality and suffering that so many people are enduring. But our faith in God, and in our Saviour Jesus Christ, teaches us that there is always hope.

“The tireless work of these men and women for justice, peace and reconciliation is a great source of such hope. Praise God for those whose lives are dedicated to serving his purposes.”

The recipients of the 2019 Lambeth Awards are:

The Langton Award for Community Service

• Bishop Dr Joseph Aldred
  for his outstanding mission to the UK’s African-Caribbean community and to the wider church.
  
  
• Ms Shari Brown
  for her outstanding contribution to the reception and integration of refugees.
  
  
• The late Canon Professor Richard Farnell
  for his lifelong contribution to urban regeneration and social justice.
  
  
• Mrs Karina Martin
  The Langton Award for Community Service for her unique work with refugees and asylum-seekers

The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation

• Professor Michael Barnes SJ
  for his long and distinguished contribution in this field.
  
  
• The Reverend Graham Burton
  for working for peace between Christians and Muslims in Pakistan for twelve years and in Nottingham for twenty-five years.
  
  
• The Reverend Jessica Foster
  for her sustained and remarkable work in community and interfaith relations.
  
  
• The Reverend Dr Barbara Glasson
  for her extraordinarily creative and innovative interfaith and outreach work.
  
  
• Ms Laura Marks OBE
  for her transformative work in interfaith relations and her focus on women in leadership.
  
  
• Professor Mona Siddiqui
  for her sustained, eloquent and articulate advocacy of interfaith dialogue

The Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism

• Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan
  for her outstanding work in ecumenism.
  
  
• The Reverend Dr David Cornick
  for his outstanding sustained contribution to the development of ecumenical life and witness in England.

The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England

• Miss Victoria Bridgeman
  for her 32 years of unstinting and valuable work as a volunteer in the Lambeth Palace Garden.
  
  
• The Venerable Prince Dr Daniel Kajumba
  for his campaign against poverty, inequality, discrimination and injustice
  
  
• The Rt Hon Sir Andrew McFarlane
  for outstanding legal services to the Church of England
  
  
• Mr Jonathan Spencer CB
  for his selfless dedication to the work of the Church of England Pensions Board

The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship

• Mrs Clare Brown
  for her work in guiding readers through the archives of the Church of England, and for her exhibitions and scholarly expertise in support of Lambeth Palace Library and three Archbishops of Canterbury.
  
  
• Hugh Rayment-Pickard
  for his exceptional contribution to improving the higher education prospects of disadvantaged pupils.

The Dunstan Award for Prayer and the Religious Life

• Petà Dunstan
  for her extraordinary contribution to religious communities in the United Kingdom.
  
  
• The Reverend Ian Mobsby
  for his exceptional contribution to the creation and growth of new religious communities
  
  
• Sr Rachel Overton
  for her work in forming spiritual directors and the quiet holiness which she conveys as a solitary religious.

The Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship

• Mr Roger Jones
  for his unique contribution to Christian music.

The Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness

• The Reverend Canon John Knight
  for his lifelong commitment to mission and evangelism in both Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom
  
  
• Canon Jill MacDonald
  for her exceptional contribution to community building and leadership in Birmingham.
  
  
• The Reverend Prebendary Charles and Mrs Tricia Marnham
  for their sustained and excellent contribution to evangelism and witness through the Alpha Course and beyond.
  
  
• Mr Emmanuel Oladipo
  for his exceptional contribution to the Scripture Union in Africa and worldwide.