Page 4 - AECA.org.uk ¦ Koinonia 63

full of health and enjoyment, pouring upon yourself and all
your enlightened hierarchy and the Christ-loving English
people His gifts in unstinted measure.’

As the AECA celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, this edi-
tion of Koinonia celebrates that legacy of understanding and relations,
which it has undoubtedly helped to foster, through a series of articles
with an historical theme.

The Chairman, William Taylor, re?ects on the sesquicentenary of
the AECA in an article that outlines some of its background and cur-
rent signi?cance. He comments that ‘relations between our two families
of churches have never been more important than they now are.’ In the
light of the correspondence between Archbishop and Patriarch at the
end of the 19th century it is interesting to compare this with the recent
greetings between the current holders of those o?ces, and their recent
o?cial exchange is included in full for the record. Dimitris Salapatas
continues the theme by reviewing Anglican-Orthodox relations and ask-
ing if we have reached ‘a dead-end or a way forward?’ Matthew Duckett
also writes from an historical perspective as he describes the emergence
of the cult of relics in the Early Church and its comparative develop-
ment among eastern and western Christians.

Many of you will remember that in the last edition of Koinonia,
we announced a signi?cant Travel Award for students engaging in ?eld-
work that would strengthen Anglican-Orthodox relations and under-
standing. The occasion was another anniversary – the 1700th of the
Edict of Milan – and it was felt that this momentous date should not go
unmarked. The Committee were delighted with the response and par-
ticularly the quality of the applications. In the end we chose to award
the prize to Catherine Reid, an ordinand at Mir?eld, and she has writ-
ten a re?ection on her time at St Elisabeth’s Convent in Belarus. In due
course we hope to include the academic work resulting from her time
there. Although we could only award the prize to one person, it threw
up an exciting range of projects and we have sought to support many of
the applicants in di?erent ways by pointing them to other grants, per-

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