Vision36 is a bold new proposal to plant or restore a million churches across the Anglican Communion, which was presented at ACC-19 on the 29 June. ACC Members heard the proposal that was brought to the council during a 'Global Conversations' session, shared by representatives of the Anglican Communion Commission for Evangelism and Discipleship (ACCED).

The delegates heard from members of the ACCED including the Most Revd Nicholas Drayson, former Primate of the Anglican Church of South America, the Rt Revd Eleanor Sanderson, Bishop of Hull in the Diocese of York, the Venn Canon Robert (Bob) Sihubwa from the Diocese of Zambia (Church of the Province of Central Africa) and the Rt Revd Elizabeth Awut Ngor, Area Bishop in the Diocese of Rumbek Center (Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan) who opened the meeting with a prayer.

The Vision36 proposal seeks to empower Anglican and Episcopal provinces in the continuation of discipleship and church planting and revitalisation across the Anglican Communion.

The initiative is described in the proposal papers as a vision ‘for a new decade, from 2026 to 2036, in which making disciples will be supplemented with planting healthy churches.’

Vision36 is also intended to follow on from the 'Season of Intentional Discipleship', which was a decade-long programme established at ACC-16 in 2016. Many churches around the Anglican Communion have been part of this and it's related 'Jesus Shaped Life' initiative.

Building on the Jesus-Shaped Life initiative, Vision36 proposes alongside the Five Marks of Mission (Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure), a complementary set of Discipleship-focused Marks are adopted, as ’Marks of Missionary Discipleship’: To Encounter, Follow, Belong, Grow, Make and Multiply.

Bishop Eleanor said the Commission is proposing these complementary discipleship marks as ‘... things that we must be intentional about in order for discipleship to become a part of who we are always… to enable the life of discipleship to continue to flourish’.

What is Vision36?

During the presentation, members of ACCED explained more about Vision36 and outlined suggestions for how all provinces, churches and individuals in the Anglican Communion could be involved.

Canon Bob shared with the delegates that the vision is about taking ‘the Church to the world’ and planting or renewing one million congregations that are ‘deep-rooted, spiritually healthy and fruitful’. He also affirmed that what motivates Vision36 is the belief that the Anglican Communion ‘has something to offer the world '. He shared, ‘We have a message to offer. We have a Community to offer…. Let’s take it out to the world.’

What might Vision36 achieve?

The members of the commission described the desired outcomes of Vision36, sharing that there could be a minimum of 20 million new church members and another one million worshipping communities to combine with the approximate 500,000 Anglican worshipping communities within the 50,000 Anglican parishes around the world.

However, the Commission explained that Vision36 is not just about church numbers, but also about helping individuals to grow and communities to flourish and transform with the presence of congregations who embody the sacrificial love of Christ.

According to Canon Bob, a key outcome of engaging in Vision36 could be helping to establish communities ‘where every Christian takes on the responsibility to help another to grow in faith’, which in turn enables them to help others after a time, just as Jesus taught his disciples before sending them out to make disciples.

Members of the ACC discussed the proposal in small groups, touching on their differences in contexts that might hinder or help in church planting, including legal restrictions in some parts of the Communion where trying to bring others to Christ might be a heavily punishable offence.

Members also shared their ideas for how this proposal might be implemented and nurtured in their contexts and passions to see their communities transformed in this way. Canon Bob concluded by requesting that the ACC ‘embrace this vision’ and consider affirming Vision36.

A Resolution from ACCED for ACC-19 to consider reads: ‘In light of the imperative of the Great Commission, to “Go and make disciples of all nations”, the ACC affirms the need for every province, diocese and parish in the Anglican Communion to adopt a clear focus and 'walk an extra mile' in the next decade, from 2026 to 2036, as per Vision36, to grow wholehearted discipleship among their people and to plant one million new churches, communities or congregations, in order to share in the calling and sanctification of the body of Christ.’

More about the ACCED

The Anglican Communion Commission for Evangelism and Discipleship(ACCED) was constituted as a commission in 2020. It contains two sub-groups: the Church Planting Network and the Intentional Discipleship–Jesus Shaped Life Network. Co-chaired by Archbishop Ric Thorpe and Bishop Moon Hing Ng, with 20 members across all five Communion regions. After ACC-19, the two sub-groups are expected to merge into one as they take up stewardship of Vision36, the initiative to plant and revitalise one million churches around the world.

More information

See the latest updates from the 19^th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-19) on the event website or Anglican Communion social media channels: Facebook, Instagram and X.

Find out more about the Living and Sharing Jesus-Shaped Life resource.

Learn more about the Commission for Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (CTEAC).