The Global South Communique claims that the Global South represents “the vast majority of the active membership of the Communion,” a statement that aligns with available statistics suggesting a proportion of about 80%. However, a deeper examination of the numbers reveals a need to adjust these figures for accuracy.
According to the Anglican Communion Office, the total membership is listed as 80 million. This figure, however, is questionable when considering the specific statistics for the Church of England. Official data from the Church of England reports a total attendance of 2.6 million for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 2008. Given that the Church of England accounts for approximately 26 million members of the Anglican Communion, this suggests that the total figure for the Communion might need to be revised downward by at least 20 million to reflect a more accurate membership count.
To provide a clearer picture, here are the estimated membership figures for major provinces in the Global South:
- Nigeria: 20 million
- Uganda: 8,782,821 (2002 Census)
- Kenya: 5,000,000 (ACK website)
- Southern Africa: 3.5 million (ACSA website)
- Church of South India: 3.8 million (Wikipedia)
- Church of North India: 1,250,000 (Wikipedia)
- Tanzania: 2.5 million (Wikipedia)
- Rwanda: 1 million
- West Africa: 1 million
- West Indies: 770,000 (Lambeth Directory 1998)
- Pakistan: 800,000 (Wikipedia and Lambeth Directory 1998)
- Indian Ocean: 120,000 (Anglican Communion website)
- Burundi: 425,000 (Lambeth Directory)
- Central Africa: 600,000 (Lambeth Directory)
- Congo: 300,000 (Lambeth Directory)
- Myanmar: 49,000 (Lambeth Directory)
- South East Asia: 98,000 (Wikipedia)
- Jerusalem and Middle East: 10,000
Summing these figures, the total membership for these provinces is approximately 50,004,821.
For other provinces, the membership numbers are:
- Australia: 3,903,324 (Anglican Communion Website)
- New Zealand: 584,793 (Anglican Communion website)
- Church of England: 2.6 million (Church of England statistics)
- USA: 2,285,000 (Wikipedia)
- Canada: 2,035,500 (Wikipedia)
- Ireland: 410,000 (Lambeth Directory)
- Scotland: 53,000 (Lambeth Directory)
This results in a combined total of 11,871,617 for these provinces.
When we aggregate both the Global South and other provinces, the overall membership comes to approximately 61,876,438. This breakdown supports the Global South’s claim of representing about 80% of the active membership within the Anglican Communion.
These numbers underline the significant presence and influence of the Global South in the Anglican Communion, while also highlighting the importance of accurate data reporting and interpretation for understanding the global landscape of the Church.