[ACNS, by Staff Writer] The Dean of St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, has been elected coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Jerusalem. The election, which took place last Thursday (30 January) is subject to ratification from the Central Synod of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. Plans are being made for Dean Hosam’s consecration during a service at St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem in the Spring, following provincial ratification.

The bishop coadjutor will work alongside Archbishop Suheil Dawani until his retirement in 2021; he will then be installed as the new Anglican Episcopal Archbishop in Jerusalem.

The Diocese of Jerusalem serves Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It has 28 congregations and more than 30 charitable institutions, including two major hospitals, several clinics and rehabilitation centres, and over a dozen schools.

Dean Hosam represents the Province of Jerusalem and Middle East on the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and is a member of the ACC’s Standing Committee.

Another Standing Committee member, Bishop Jane Alexander of Edmonton in the Anglican Church of Canada, has announced that she is stepping down with effect from 31 July this year. In a message read to congregations in her diocese on Sunday 26 January, she said: “During my time as your Bishop I have done my best to focus us on looking outward into the world and concentrate on discipleship and the mission of Christ’s church. I love you deeply and will miss you terribly. It has been my great joy to see us step out in faith in new areas of ministry and to dive more deeply into our role as Disciples of Christ.”

Elsewhere in Canada, Lincoln Mckoen has been elected to serve as the first Bishop of the Territory of the People. The Territory has the status of a diocese within the Anglican Church of Canada. It brings together the churches previously known as the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior – churches which were previously part of the Diocese of Cariboo, which was became bankrupt in 2001 following a compensation award for safeguarding failures. In making the announcement, the Church of Canada said that through his ministry experience in Alert Bay, living amongst the Kwakwaka’wakw people for almost a decade, he has been learning how necessary reconciliation work is for the Church.

Canada’s Provincial Secretary – General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod – Archdeacon Michael Thompson, will retire on 30 June.

The Bishop of Pennsylvania in the US-based Episcopal Church, Daniel G P Gutiérrez, has been named as the new President of the Compass Rose Society (CRS), succeeding the Bishop of Texas, Andrew Doyle. The CRS is an international charitable organisation which supports the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ministry in the global Anglican Communion and the work of the Anglican Communion Office.

Founded in 1997, the CRS comprises 393 members located primarily in north America and Hong Kong. In 2018 it provided nearly $900 thousand USD (approximately £681,000 GBP) to support the reconciliation and communication initiatives of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Princess Basma Centre for Children with Disabilities in the Diocese of Jerusalem, hospitals in Gaza and Nablus, and Canterbury Cathedral.

Dates have been confirmed for the installation of three new Primates.

The first indigenous Bishop of Sabah, Melter Tais, will be installed as Primate of the Province of the Anglican Church of South East Asia on 9 February. He succeeds Archbishop Moon Hing, Bishop of West Malaysia.

On 1 March, the Bishop of Mityana, Stephen Samuel Kaziimba, will be installed as Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Uganda. The outgoing Archbishop, Stanley Ntagali, will hand over the primatial pastoral staff to new Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba during an investiture service at St Paul’s Cathedral in Namirembe.

And on 25 March, the Bishop of Gombe, Archbishop Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba, will be installed as the new Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Currently Archbishop of the internal province of Jos, Archbishop Henry will succeed Archbishop Nicholas Okoh when he becomes the Church’s fifth Primate.