Anglican Vision36 aims for one million churches by 2036

It's being championed by the Anglican Communion Commission for Evangelism and Discipleship, known as ACCED, which brings together representatives from member churches around the world. The commission shaped the plan and was meeting in Nairobi from 10 to 13 November.

The Rt Revd Professor Joseph Galgalo, the Provincial Secretary of the Anglican Church of Kenya, formally declared it launched. He said: "In obedience to the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, and dependence upon the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we gather as an Anglican family to dedicate ourselves to Vision36."

He closed with the declaration itself: "Therefore, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I declare Vision36 launched and commended to the prayers, participation, and faithful service of the Anglican Communion."

Why Kenya

Canon Stephen Spencer from the Anglican Communion Office told Premier Christian News the location wasn't an accident.

"It is fitting to hold the launch in the Anglican Church of Kenya, a Province like many others around the Communion that is seeing church growth and new congregations being planted," he said.

What the plan actually says

The written proposal, which ACCED took to the Anglican Consultative Council, lays out the idea in a few lines. A Proposal for Vision36 calls it "a multiplication vision for every disciple and every church in the Anglican Communion."

By 2036, it hopes:

• everyone in the churches "has grown and helped someone else to grow as a wholehearted disciple of Jesus based on scripture"
• every church "has grown new deeply rooted congregations of wholehearted disciples," grounded in Safe Church principles
• every disciple and congregation has played a part in "transforming their local communities through the sacrificial love of Jesus"
• every province, diocese and church has played its part "in planting a million new congregations"

The scriptural anchor is Matthew 28, the Great Commission. The proposal also leans on Jesus' parables of growth, the mustard seed and the seed that grows secretly in Mark 4. "Sometimes the growth has tiny beginnings (as with a mustard seed) and sometimes it happens secretly," it says.

It follows the Communion's Season of Intentional Discipleship, which ran from 2016 to 2026. Vision36 is meant to add church planting to that focus on discipleship.

Not starting from scratch

Archbishop Ric Thorpe, co-chair of ACCED, was keen to say this isn't a top-down scheme dropped on parishes. He said the initiative is "not starting from scratch," pointing to church growth already happening in places like Malaysia and Tanzania.

He also acknowledged that a target of one million may not motivate everyone. ACNS reports he said "the focus... is on every person living a wholehearted, fruitful, Jesus-shaped life."

His invitation was simple. "We invite you; we call you to join us in this journey. Pray with us. Get involved with us and share what God is already doing amongst you."

Gen Z and unanswered questions

One of the more striking voices at the launch was Grace Zawadi, a Kenyan worship leader and youth representative.

"I think Gen Z… is one of the most inquisitive generations," she said. "We have so many questions about faith, about scripture and the church and sometimes those questions seem unanswered. And this can leave young people feeling disconnected and eventually disengaging from fellowship."

"So what excites me about Vision36 is the opportunity to change that… we are creating spaces where young people can ask questions, find answers, genuinely understand their faith and grow in their relationship with Jesus."

That's a theme other Christian groups are chasing too. We covered one tech take on it in YouVersion's Bible Loop app for teens.

The Secretary General's line

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo, framed it as a vision that will look different in different places.

"This is a communion-wide vision. But it will find expression in different ways across our member churches in provinces, dioceses and local churches. Jesus's command in Matthew 28 is clear. 'Go make disciples of all nations'. Our prayer is to see disciples making disciples. Leaders developing leaders. And churches establishing new worshipping communities where people encounter Christ."

He said the Anglican Communion Office would connect "leaders, evangelists and church planters" through ACCED, and gave the commission its marching orders: "Your task now is to help member churches make this vision their own."

What happens now

The launch is the easy part. ACNS says each member church is now being invited to name a Vision36 representative and draw up an action plan for its own setting. There's no single model. Planting in a rural East African diocese won't look like renewal in a European city parish or a remote Pacific community.

That invitation goes to every member church, including the Anglican Church of Australia. How each Australian diocese answers will be up to it.

Vision36 has the backing of the Anglican Consultative Council, which affirmed it at its Belfast meeting this year. In that resolution the council called on every member church, diocese and parish to "adopt a clear focus and 'walk an extra mile' between 2026 and 2036, to grow wholehearted discipleship and to plant one million new and healthy churches, communities and congregations."

There's a milestone built in along the way. The plan folds in JC2033, an ecumenical movement marking 2,000 years since the resurrection of Jesus at Easter 2033. The proposal sees that as "a key staging post in the decade" to give thanks for what's been planted and recommit to the rest.

The commission says it'll offer training, events and shared resources over the decade. Whether a million new and renewed congregations actually appear will depend on what happens in parishes, not in Nairobi. But as Bishop Galgalo put it, "every church, whether under a cathedral roof or a village tree, might plant and serve its community."

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