Anglican Church of Melanesia
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Anglican Church of Melanesia | |
---|---|
Holy Bible | |
Theology | Anglican doctrine |
Polity | Episcopal |
Primate | George Takeli |
Polity | Episcopal |
Headquarters | Honiara, Solomon Islands |
Territory | Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia |
Members | 200,000 |
Official website | www |
The Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACoM), also known as the Church of the Province of Melanesia and the Church of Melanesia (COM), is a church of the Anglican Communion and includes nine dioceses in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The Archbishop of Melanesia is Leonard Dawea. He succeeds the retired archbishop George Takeli.
History
The church was established by
The many languages in Melanesia made evangelisation a challenge. The Melanesian Mission adopted the language of the island of Mota in the Banks group of islands as the lingua franca. The Church of Melanesia is known for its pioneer martyrs, especially John Patteson, murdered in 1871, Charles Godden, killed in 1906, among several others.
Membership
Today, there are nearly 200,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of over 800,000 in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as well as a newly[clarification needed] formed parish in Nouméa, New Caledonia.
Structure
The polity of the Church of Melanesia is episcopal, which is the same as all other Anglican churches. Since being made a province in 1975 the church has maintained a system of geographical parishes organised into dioceses, of which there are now nine. The spiritual head of the province is the Archbishop of Melanesia, whose metropolitan See is the Diocese of Central Melanesia.
The dioceses are:
Parishes and priests
Each diocese except for Central Melanesia (the Honiara area) is divided into regions, each headed by a senior priest. The regions are further subdivided into parishes or districts (the two words being interchangeable), headed by a parish priest, usually called a rector. Parishes may be subdivided into subparishes, headed by assistant priests. Catechists are lay people appointed by a local community and authorised by the bishop to take services and look after the spiritual life of a village.
Worship and liturgy
The Church of Melanesia embraces three orders of ordained ministry: deacon, priest and bishop. A local variant of the Book of Common Prayer is used, called A Melanesian English Prayer Book.[2] Its predecessor in local liturgical development was A Book of Common Prayer Authorised for Use in Churches and Chapels in the Diocese of Melanesia, first published in 1938.[3]
Doctrine and practice
See also: Anglicanism and Anglican doctrine
The centre of the Church of Melanesia's teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church are summed up in the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.
The focus of the church's worship is the celebration of the
Feast days are celebrated by most communities on a Sunday near the feast day, or at least in the same month.
The church in its canons accepts and teaches the seven sacraments of the Church,
Ecumenical relations
Like other Anglican churches, the Church of Melanesia is a member of the ecumenical World Council of Churches, and is a member of the Pacific Conference of Churches, the Solomon Islands Christian Council, and the Vanuatu Council of Churches.
The Mothers' Union is quite active, as are the four religious communities active in the province, the Melanesian Brotherhood, the Society of Saint Francis, the Community of the Sisters of the Church and the Community of the Sisters of Melanesia. The province has its own liturgical customs and a calendar of saints.
Anglican realignment
The Church of Melanesia is a member of the
References
- ^ Limbrick, Warren E. (1990). "Selwyn, George Augustus". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ A Melanesian English Prayer Book
- ^ http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Melanesia/1938/index.html Society of St Justus website.
- ^ "Global South Letter to the Crown Nominations Commission (20 July 2012)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- ^ "Another Gay bishop". Episcopal Cafe. 7 September 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
Further reading
Anglicanism, Neill, Stephen. Harmondsworth, 1965.