‘Called to One Hope’:
Anglican Consultative Council will gather Anglicans
from around the world to meet in Belfast, June-July 2026
Press Release - 19 February 2026
Anglican Communion Office & News Service
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Gathering Anglicans from around the world, the 19th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-19) will take place in Belfast from June 27 – July 5, 2026. Themed ‘Called to One Hope’ from the letter to the Ephesians, this important international gathering of Anglican bishops, clergy and laity will explore how the Church can share the reconciling love of Christ in a fragmented world.
Supported by the Anglican Communion Office and hosted by the Church of Ireland, ACC-19 will also be the first official Anglican Communion meeting attended by the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Sarah Mullally DBE.
The ACC facilitates the cooperative work of the member churches of the Anglican Communion in the areas of mission and unity. Its meetings include updates from member churches, reports from the commissions and networks of the Communion, and resolutions concerning shared priorities that the members of the ACC wish to address.
Meeting every three years, the Anglican Consultative Council is one of four ‘Instruments of Communion’, alongside the Lambeth Conference, Primates’ Meeting, and Archbishop of Canterbury. Every member church is entitled to send two to three representatives, which include both clergy and lay people, as well as bishops. The last ACC met in Ghana, in 2023.
The 2026 ACC-19 meeting in Belfast will combine sessions for Bible Study and prayer, member church updates, and a series of ‘Global Conversations’ addressing topics of mutual concern in church and world affairs. Through a lens of both mission and advocacy, these will include discipleship, safe church, peace and reconciliation, migration and the environment.
As a consultative council, the ACC also focuses on proposals and resolutions submitted by official commissions and networks of the Anglican Communion. At ACC-19, these will include ‘Vision 36’ a bold church-planting initiative of the Anglican Communion Commission for Evangelism and Discipleship (ACCED). The Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission (ACSCC) will also bring proposals for embedding effective safeguarding standards and processes within the lives and contexts of all member churches.
ACC members will also undertake a daylong pilgrimage, visiting sites of historic importance, to learn more about the Irish experience of conflict and the church’s ministry in peace and reconciliation. The host church will organise the opening and closing services at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.
Another major focus will be consideration of proposals concerning Christian unity, Anglican identity and the structures of the Communion. Daily sessions will be hosted by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) and resolutions emerging from its paper, The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, published in 2024. The paper was commissioned at ACC-19 in 2023 ‘to help address our differences in the Anglican Communion’ in service of ‘seeking to walk together to the highest degree possible.’ The paper is set within the longstanding commitment of the Anglican Communion to answering God’s call to unity in the Body of Christ.
The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals outline two principal measures. The first proposes an updated description of the Anglican Communion to reflect its current structure and reality. The revised description enables all Anglicans to speak truly and honestly about the faith, ministry, and mission that they share.
The second proposes a broadening of the leadership of the Anglican Communion, to better reflect the diversity of the Communion in today’s world and ensure that the leadership of the Communion ‘looks like the Communion.’ The proposed modest structural reforms are offered to enhance the collegiality of the Instruments and complement the unique ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Since publishing its original paper, IASCUFO has engaged in a period of listening to responses, with an eye to presenting revised proposals for ACC-19 this June. This has entailed careful consideration of various published responses, online consultations with bishops and members of the ACC, ecumenical consultations, and regular conversations with the Standing Committee of the Communion and with Archbishop Mullally. The commission will publish a ‘Supplement’ to The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals in the days ahead, along with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) text as an accompaniment.
More information will be released about the Anglican Consultative Council in the coming months. The Anglican Communion Office is contacting member churches, commissions and networks regarding submission processes and dates for reports.