The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced that the Lambeth Conference will now take place in the summer of 2022.
In light of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the decennial meeting of Anglican bishops, which was planned for this year, had been rescheduled for 2021.
However, after "ongoing monitoring of the pandemic and consultation with bishops and primates around the world", it has now been pushed back to the following year, Lambeth has announced.
Addressing clergy who were due to make the trip, Welby said in a video that he was encouraged by the way the church has come together during the crisis.
He said:
"I am overwhelmed by the way that Anglicans around the world have been facing up to the huge social needs created by this crisis. So many people have suffered from the pandemic, economically, physically through illness and in many other ways and even have lost those close to them.
“It’s exposed the divisions and inequalities of the world with the poor and the vulnerable and the marginalised faring the worst. We’ve been isolated from one another by the lockdown and restriction. And yet we’ve managed to keep in contact and somehow I sense that the Spirit of God has drawn us closer together.
“As we look around the world, we see how important it is that the Anglican Communion walks together as we seek to be good news.”
Phil George, CEO of the Lambeth Conference Company added:
“The Lambeth Conference provides such an important opportunity for bishops and spouses of the world wide Anglican Communion to meet, pray, listen, reflect and shape the Anglican Communion for the decade ahead.
“Rescheduling the event is of course disappointing but absolutely necessary and the right thing to do. The conference planning team will continue to work harder than ever to deliver an engaging and resourceful conference programme both in the lead up to and beyond 2022.
“Covid-19 has changed our world forever. It’s vital that we gain a fresh vision of what it is to be ‘God’s Church for God’s World’; and discern God’s calling for the Communion in the decade ahead. I look forward to the role that the Lambeth Conference will play on that journey.”