The Anglican Communion’s Director of Communications, Gavin Drake, is stepping down after almost five years to develop a new publishing and media business. Gavin Drake took up the post in May 2019 after extensive experience in supporting the Anglican Communion in other roles, including as editor of the Anglican Communion News Service.

Gavin says: “The past five years have been a challenging time for the Churches of the Anglican Communion, as the global Covid pandemic required parishes to temporarily halt their daily and weekly in-person worship services. But it has also been a very encouraging time, with the creation of the new Member Churches of Alexandria, serving North Africa and the Horn of Africa; and Igreja Anglicana de Mocambique e Angola, serving the Lusophone countries at either side of southern Africa.

“In my time as Director of Communications, we have had a very successful Lambeth Conference meeting of Anglican Bishops in Canterbury, England; two Anglican Consultative Council plenary meetings in Hong Kong and Ghana; and Primates’ Meetings in Jordan and London in addition to the first online Primates’ Meetings, and the inauguration of a new Secretary General.

“The Anglican Communion is an extraordinarily diverse global family and I am privileged to have served the Communion, not only as its Director of Communications, but, prior to that, as Editor of the Anglican Communion News Service and as a consultant, but it is now time to move on and I am looking forward to developing new professional challenges.”

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Anthony Poggo, said: “Gavin Drake’s first involvement in the structures of the Anglican Communion date back to 2005, when he provided communications support for the 13th plenary meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-13) in Nottingham. Since then he has continued to support the Communion in many ways and has earned a justified reputation across the Anglican Communion for his professional approach to communications and his approach of ensuring that the many cultures of the Communion are reflected in the work we do.”

Gavin Drake will step down on 24 November 2023.