This week the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby announced the 2022 Lambeth Awards. This year these were awarded to 37 recipients across four continents, for their contributions to community service, worship, evangelism, interfaith cooperation, ecumenism and education. The awards included some whose dedicated work has brought hope and transformation into issues of environmental justice, humanitarian response and community development, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Lambeth Awards are given to people within the Church of England, the wider Anglican Communion, other Christian churches, as well as to those of other faiths and none. Those honoured this year work in countries from Burundi to Brazil, West Malaysia to Canada.
The Anglican Alliance warmly congratulates all the recipients of the Lambeth Awards. We mention here, in particular, those whose service has been an inspiration and contribution to the wider Communion on creation care, community development, humanitarianism, and the Covid-19 response – issues central to the Anglican Alliance’s work. These recipients include those awarded:
The Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion for outstanding service to support the Communion’s role in creation care and climate justice:
- The Right Reverend Marinez Rosa dos Santos Bassotto, Bishop of the Amazon, Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil
- The Most Reverend Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Archbishop, Anglican Church of Canada
- The Most Reverend Julio E Murray Thompson, Primate of the Anglican Church of Central America and Chair of the Anglican Communion Environment Network
The Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion for outstanding service to support the Communion’s pandemic response, including through the Global Covid-19 Task Force:
- The Lay Canon Andrew Khoo LLB AKC, Diocese of West Malaysia, Church of the Province of South East Asia
- The Lay Canon Delene Mark, Director of Hope Africa, Anglican Church of Southern Africa
- Nagulan Nesiah, Senior Programme Officer, Episcopal Relief & Development
- Dr Sally Smith, specialist on faith-based health responses
The Langton Award for Community Service for outstanding lifelong service to the Church and society:
- Mrs Claudette Kigeme, Mothers’ Union, Anglican Church of Burundi, for work on grassroots community transformation
- Mrs Marion Dawson Carr, for humanitarian work and volunteerism
Announcing the awards, Archbishop Justin said, “The world around us is not as it should be. There is grave injustice and we currently face war in Europe, while Covid-19 continues to cause much grief. But we do not despair. Our faith in Jesus teaches us that we are justified in maintaining hope. One thing which feeds that hope is the work and service of the people we recognise today.”
The Archbishop added, “Many of those receiving an award have worked quietly, discreetly and are known only to a few. They have worked for justice and reconciliation, for the relief of poverty, for the extension of the Kingdom of God, for the advancement of education for all, for understanding between denominations and faiths, for authenticity in worship and prayer on behalf of this broken world. These awards represent an opportunity to acknowledge their valuable work. I present them on behalf of the Church of England but also, I hope, on behalf of people of goodwill everywhere.”
Photos above show the Archbishop of Canterbury with Lambeth Award recipients Canon Andrew Khoo and Dr Sally Smith and their families. They were among those attending the award ceremony in person at Lambeth Palace.
Warm congratulations to all the recipients of the 2022 Lambeth Awards. For a full list and individual citations for the recipients please see here.
Please continue to hold all these inspirational people in your prayers.