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shared by Anglicans and Orthodox. In our contemporary context, we also live
in churches of multiple diasporas. For many of the historic churches of the
Middle East, with the recent tragic exodus of Christians from their historic
homelands, many churches find themselves with larger diasporas than in their
own historic places – the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Church of the East
would be two examples, together with the very small number of Orthodox
Christians remaining in Turkey, the national home of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate. Likewise, “diaspora Anglicans” from Caribbean nations and such
countries as Nigeria and Ghana form a significant and growing part of the
contemporary identity of the Church of England, proud to have an Archbishop
of York from a Ugandan background, himself a refugee from the regime of
terror of Idi Amin. As Christians, this situation of diaspora and dispersion
brings us into close contact with each other in many and different situations,
from Addis Ababa to Auckland, from Brisbane to Bombay. Our two traditions
were never strangers to each other, and in the new world of shifting and
changing diasporas, we are brought into closer and closer contact in our daily
realities. Long gone are the days when Churches of the Orthodox tradition
were seen as something exotic and eastern by the people of these islands. As
just one example, in terms of Churches of the Orthodox tradition, my own
Diocese contains five Greek orthodox communities, including the Cathedral at
Camberwell, Upper Norwood with a separate Greek Chapel in Norwood
Cemetery, Battersea (aka Clapham, aka Wandsworth), Kinston-on Thames and
Welling (aka Woolwich). There is also a Russian parish under the Ecumenical
Patriarchate at Clapham, a Coptic Church in Coulsdon (aka Croydon), a
British Orthodox parish at Charlton, an Eritrean Orthodox Church at
Camberwell, an Indian Orthodox Church at Brockley and an Ethiopian Parish
at Battersea. There may well be others, certainly members of other Orthodox
communities living within the Diocese.
The daily reality of close community interactions has many benefits –
not least shared concerns on pressing issues of the day such as the current
migrant crisis, the persecution and discrimination faced by many Christians of
the Middle East, and contemporary social issues such as the current debate
around assisted dying, where the churches together have made a vital
contribution to the national debate. It also enables theological dialogue to be
given momentum – in recent decades there have been important theological
agreements between Anglicans and Orthodox in Moscow 1976, Dublin 1984,
and Cyprus 2006, as well as the important joint statement on theological
anthropology published this month, In the Image and Likeness of God: A Hope-filed

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