Forty bishops representing 22 dioceses of The Episcopal Church are participating with bishops from 29 Anglican dioceses in Africa at a six-day conference in Madrid meant to foster closer links between north and south in the Anglican Communion.

The July 21-26 conference is underwritten by the Parish of Trinity Church, Wall Street, with the Spanish Episcopal Church serving as local host. Conference organizers invited all bishops with companion Episcopal-African relationships for what a Trinity press release described as a consultation.

“The consultation is offering partners in faith and mission a communal space to further existing partnerships and find commonalities on which to build new relationships,” said the Rev. Canon James G. Callaway, Jr., deputy for faith formation and development at Trinity. “Mission flourishes best through collaboration.”

Ten of the 12 Anglican provinces in Africa are represented, according to Diane Reed, manager of promotion and public relations at Trinity. The event is closed to media, and Ms. Reed said she did not have permission to release the names of the participants. However, a Trinity press release noted the archbishops of Central Africa, the Congo, Southern Africa, Burundi, and Brazil were present for a Eucharist July 22 at Madrid’s Iglesia Episcopal de España.

During the two-hour service, which was primarily conducted in Spanish with English translations, the Rt. Rev. Carlos Lozan Lopez, Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain, welcomed three new honorary canons: Eliseo Villa and the Rev. Anthony Ball from the international office at Lambeth Palace in London, and the Rev. James H. Cooper, rector of Trinity Wall Street.

“Trinity Church is an active partner in the global south, especially strengthening the Church in Africa by facilitating the ability of its leaders to take control of factors that influence their lives,” stated Fr. Cooper in a Trinity press release. “Diocesan partnerships are a vital route to achieving important goals both locally and globally. We look forward this week to challenging conversations, inspired thinking, and renewed commitments to partnership and mission.”

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