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intercommunion with the Orthodox Church, and also for
friendly intercourse with the other ancient Churches of the
East’; to give ?nancial assistance to the Orthodox bishops
to assist in their e?orts to promote the spiritual welfare of
their ?ocks.”3

The ECA’s importance is evident, since it was the ?rst endeavour
within the United Kingdom to ?nd an organisation with a sole purpose
the promotion of Anglican-Orthodox Relations. On the whole, discus-
sions before this point were products of individuals, existing on the pe-
riphery of the church’s interest, in both East and West. Nevertheless,
the ECA altered this practice. It persisted that its members were repre-
senting a church; consequently giving it an o?cial position within the
relations of the two churches. This organisation is currently known as
‘The Anglican and Eastern Churches Association’ (AECA). It eventually
amalgamated with ‘The Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Un-
ion’, in 1906, forming ?nally the existing AECA, based in London. It is
signi?cant to identify its goals; the Association has the following aim:

“To advance the Christian religion, particularly by teaching
members of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches about
each other, in order to prepare the way for an ultimate un-
ion between them, in accordance with our Lord’s prayer
that ‘all may be one’. All its members are urged to work and
pray constantly to this end.”4

The second important society promoting Anglican-Orthodox
Relations is the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius. It is an un-
o?cial body; “it numbers among its members some eminent theologi-
ans and Church leaders”5 and therefore it is considered to be “one of the

3 Brandreth, Henry, “Anglican Eastern Associations: A Sketch”, Sobornost, No. 31 (New Series), June
1945, p. 10.
4 A.E.C.A., http://www.aeca.org.uk/, accessed 08/01/12, 14.57.
5 Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius Booklet, Fellowship Archives, p. 4.

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