Twenty-five new and recently consecrated bishops from around the world are gathering in Canterbury to explore their new calling as bishops within the Anglican Communion.

The annual ‘New Bishops’ Conference’ runs from Thursday 29 October to Monday 9 November 2026. It is hosted by Canterbury Cathedral with support from the Anglican Communion Office (ACO).

The bishops attending represent 12 member churches of the Communion and 13 countries, including Australia, Burundi, Canada, Ghana, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, New Zealand, South Africa and Tanzania.

The programme has been designed to assist participants learn through encounter, reflection and discussion, with each bishop invited to contribute insights from their own context as well as to learn from others.

The course programme is built around the Five Marks of Mission – Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure – and will combine daily worship at Canterbury Cathedral with Bible study, teaching sessions, shared meals and conversation.

The New Bishops’ course is being delivered at Canterbury Cathedral. As the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, it is celebrated by many Anglican churches as a focal point of the Anglican Communion.

Speaking to delegates, the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Revd Dr David Monteith, said: ‘This conference offers a unique opportunity to gather with fellow bishops from across the Anglican Communion at the place where it all began. Together we will grow in our understanding of what it means to be a bishop within the Communion, learning from one another through worship, teaching, discussion, shared meals, conversation, and friendship. Each of you comes not only as a learner, but also as a teacher. The experiences, wisdom, and insights you bring from your own context are a gift to us all.’

One day of the conference (Thursday 5 November) will be held at the Anglican Communion Office (ACO), in London. The ACO is the official Secretariat to the Anglican Communion that assists the Anglican Consultative Council. The visit will allow the new bishops to meet ACO staff and learn how they strengthen connections and collaboration amongst member churches in mission, advocacy and Christian unity.

The Anglican Communion’s Deputy Secretary General, and Bishop for Episcopal Ministry, the Rt Revd Dr Jo Wells, is supporting the New Bishops’ conference, with daily Bible studies and other input. Bishop Jo said: ‘It’s always such a pleasure to gather new bishops from around the Communion and to do so in Canterbury, where Augustine landed in the year 597 for a church-planting mission which continues to this day. It’s a rich time of sharing, both the personal joys and demands of the new call to episcopacy, which is common to all who come, and equally the varied contexts and cultures in which we discover how God is active around the globe. As we listen to God’s Word, I find it a huge privilege to learn from the variety of insights among the group. It has been said that “it takes the whole people of God to hear the whole Word of God”. Together we hear God speaking through one another in ways far beyond our individual capacity or experience.’

Features of the New Bishops' Conference

The conference opened with a welcome session hosted by the Rt Revd John Inge, former Bishop of Worcester, and a session from the Dean of Canterbury and its significance to the Anglican story. The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull and Rt Revd Cleophas Lunga, from the Anglican Communion’s Safe Church Commission, led two sessions on Safe Church.

Each day, one of the Five Marks of Mission is explored in turn. Revd Dr Charlotte Sleigh will lead sessions on Treasure, focusing on care for creation; The Rt Revd Rob Wickham, Group Chief Executive of Church Urban Fund, and Revd Dr Sammy Wainaina, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Adviser for Anglican Communion Affairs, will lead on Transform; Robert Dawes, Executive Director of the Anglican Alliance, will lead on Tend; the Rt Revd Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, Bishop of Willesden, will lead on Teach; and the Rt Revd Saju Muthalaly, Bishop of Loughborough, will lead on Tell.

Further sessions will feature canon law with the Ven Will Adam, the Archdeacon of Canterbury; the work of the St Augustine’s Foundation, which has supported the New Bishops’ courses for many years, with its Administrator Stephen Lyon; and a full day on leadership styles with Matthew Frost and Tim Jeffrey. The Rt Revd Alison White is serving as Course Chaplain throughout.

Worship will frame each day, with Morning Prayer, the Eucharist and Evensong in the Cathedral. Highlights include a candlelit prayer walk through the Cathedral, an afternoon with the Archbishop of Canterbury, a Requiem Eucharist for All Souls’ Day, a baptism service at St Mary Bredin Church in Canterbury, and dinner with the Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin.

The conference will conclude on Remembrance Sunday, 8 November, when the bishops will join the Civil Service of Remembrance and share lunch with members of the Cathedral congregation, before a closing session and an exchange of gifts.

For more information

Learn more about Canterbury Cathedral

Find out about the Anglican Communion Office and how the ACO supports the work of Episcopal Ministry