The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church will host a two day visit to Scotland of the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev Justin Welby, on 24th and 25th November.
Archbishop Justin’s visit to Scotland will start on Monday 24 November with a meeting at Bute House with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
In welcoming the Archbishop to Scotland, the Most Rev David Chillingworth says “The Scottish Episcopal Church is delighted to welcome Archbishop Justin Welby and his wife Caroline to Scotland. Archbishop Justin’s visit to Scotland is part of a series of visits to the Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Archbishop Justin has established reconciliation as one of his priorities in ministry. He is seeking ways in which churches which live in an extraordinary diversity of contexts – geographical, economic, social and cultural – can express visible unity in Christ.
“We look forward to sharing with Archbishop Justin some of the vitality and distinctiveness of the Scottish Episcopal Church in its ministry in Scotland today”
Archbishop Justin will then meet with representatives of other churches and faith groups in Scotland before meeting with the College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church to discuss the Church’s role in society and a range of matters within the world-wide Anglican Communion.
On Tuesday 25 November the Archbishop will visit the Dundee Centre of Mission – a new Church Army project in the Diocese of Brechin, based in St Luke’s Church, Dundee. St Luke’s is currently being transformed into a cafe style church where worship and meetings can take place in a relaxed, social setting and plans are underway for an afterschool club to be opened there. Part of this project includes working with St Paul’s Cathedral, Dundee as there is a recognition that despite its growing congregation there are many people right on the Cathedral’s doorstep for whom traditional models of church can be difficult.
Following a meeting with clergy from the Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane, the Archbishop will join the Episcopal congregations of Aberdour, Burntisland and Inverkeithing for a brief Act of Worship in St Columba’s Church, Aberdour. This visit will also encourage a new initiative which is known as the Fife Church Graft. This is an initiative between the ABI Churches (Episcopal churches in Aberdour (St Columba’s), Burntisland (St Serf’s) and Inverkeithing (St Peter’s) and St Paul’s & St George’s Church in Edinburgh. The main objective of this initiative is to establish a Contemporary Family Service – Connecting Friends, Family and Faith – to help the local community connect with one other. The Archbishop will then meet a wider group involved from the community at St Fillan’s Church, Aberdour before returning to London on Tuesday evening.
The visit to Scotland is part of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s series of meetings during his first 18 months in office with Primates (the most senior of the bishops or archbishops in each Province of the Anglican Communion) across the worldwide Anglican Communion which has around 85 million members, spread across 38 Provinces in more than 165 countries. Each of these Provinces is autonomous, with its own system of governance.
-ends-
