Anglican Peacemaking Institute

The API consists of training programmes which:

• Equip small groups of leaders sponsored by their Bishop for mission and ministry, with a focus on contributing to reconciliation in church and wider society;
• Resource these groups to develop an action plan for their local context; and support them in implementing this and in sharing learning across a diocese or wider area.

Participants will be chosen by their diocesan bishop. They will be:

• Christians in mid-career, with potential for senior leadership;
• Mostly ordained, and of diverse genders and theological traditions.

The API programmes seek to make a strategic contribution:

• Either, to how the Church contributes to bridging divisions and strengthening relationships in divided societies;
• Or, to changing the culture of how Anglican churches handle their disagreements.

In doing so they seek to bring hope to the world.

At the heart of each API programme is a week-long intensive learning programme. These incorporate:

• Anglican worship, morning and evening;
• Biblical study led by eminent Anglican speakers;
• Dynamic adult learning courses, integrating theological reflection.

Meeting venues are carefully chosen to facilitate community-building outside formal training sessions.

After the residential course, there’s an 18-month process of follow-up coaching to support implementation. As well as meetings with their bishop, participants will hold a regular online conference with a partner team from another diocese. These conferences will be action learning groups, facilitated by an API facilitator.

Distinctive features include:

• An investment in mid-level, prospective senior leaders;
• Intentional mixing of people of different genders, and of diverse theological traditions;
• Geared for small groups of four participants from a diocese, attending together for more effective follow-through;
• A place to develop good practice and share stories of success and failure, of transformation in church and society;
• Focussed on developing an action plan to be implemented over 18 months in consultation with the diocesan bishop.

API participants will form:

• an emerging network of potentially influential Anglicans;
• who have journeyed through a shared learning experience and built relationships across theological and social divides;
• with a vision for practical peacemaking in church and society, as a contribution to God's reconciling work in the world.