Maggie Swinson, Honorary Canon and Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, has been awarded an OBE for her services to the Church of England and Anglican Communion, in His Majesty The King’s Birthday Honours List. The award was announced on 13 June.

In the United Kingdom, National Honours are awarded twice a year to mark the New Year and His Majesty The King’s Official Birthday in June. The OBE is awarded to individuals who have made a major contribution in the fields of charitable work, public service, business or the arts.

Maggie Swinson, is a Lay Canon of Liverpool Cathedral and also serves as Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council. Maggie is committed to building fellowship across the Anglican Communion through listening, mutual respect and shared faith.

Maggie’s involvement with the Anglican Communion began at the 1991 World Council of Churches Assembly, where she first encountered Anglicans from across the world and came to see the Communion as a living fellowship rather than a distant institution. She joined the Anglican Consultative Council as the Church of England’s lay representative in 2012, later serving as Vice Chair, and was elected Chair at the ACC’s meeting in Accra in 2023.

Her service has taken her across the globe. In Sudan, she visited a church that opened its courtyard as a classroom for local children after school. In Egypt, she saw the Church providing early years education and healthcare in some of the most deprived communities. In Chile and Mozambique, she met congregations worshipping and reading Scripture in their own languages for the first time.

Maggie has also represented the Communion at significant moments of ecumenical encounter, including attending the funeral of Pope Francis and the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo, standing as a symbol of Anglican fellowship within the wider body of Christ.

Speaking about her nomination, Canon Maggie said: ‘I was surprised to be nominated for this award and am deeply honoured by it. Serving the Anglican Communion has been both a privilege and a joy. It has allowed me to meet and learn from Christians across the world, to see the many ways people live out their faith in different cultures and contexts, and to witness how Christians are making a difference in their communities.

'One of the moments that has meant most to me is praying the Lord’s Prayer together with Christians from across the Communion. Although we each pray in the language that comes most naturally to us, and the words may differ, we are praying the same prayer to the same God and expressing our faith together.

'My hope for the future is that we continue to value both our diversity and our shared calling, with Christ at the centre of our life together, as we serve the world with hope and love.’