The Anglican Communion Science Commission was formally launched at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops in 2022. Its purpose is to celebrate science as a God-given resource and to support faith and science communities working together for the betterment of people and the planet.  

It aids Anglican discussion on faith and science, equipping churches to collaborate with the scientific community in response to human need and bring the ethical voice of faith to scientific discovery. 

Since its launch, the Anglican Communion Science Commission has been working to identify representatives from each Province of the Anglican Communion to take part on the commission and to secure funding to support its work and vision in the years ahead. 

The Revd Professor Kwamena Sagoe, Co-Chair of the Science Commission and Head of Virology at the University of Ghana’s Department of Medical Microbiology, believes that churches play a crucial role. He said, “Churches are at the heart of their communities. Around the world, many churches regularly play an important role as ‘science communicators’ in community life – for example in relation to matters of pandemic response, climate crisis and other issues.” 

Professor Andrew Briggs is a member of the Science Commission and a Professor of Nanomaterials at the University of Oxford. Talking about the vision for the commission, he hopes that it will pave the way for “the worldwide Anglican Communion to give courageous and confident thought leadership involving science. It will achieve this through embracing science as a God-given resource for the life of faith and the work of the church, and by offering the wisdom of faith and the voice of the church to the impact of science and the technologies that arise from science.” 

The Science Commission is working to grow a global network of Anglicans who are passionate about science and faith, with a focus on the following priorities:  

• Thought leadership and training: Inspiring courageous and confident thinking about issues involving science in church communities around the world. 

• Faith development: Embracing science as a God-given resource that can enhance faith and appreciation of God’s amazing world. 

• Wisdom and Ethics: Contributing the ethical voice and wisdom of faith to scientific debate. 

• People and Planet: Growing collaboration between faith and science communities in response to the needs of people and planet. 

In a Lambeth Conference conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby entitled “Talking About Faith and Science: Why should the Church care about science?” (Part 1), Archbishop Justin said, “It is scientific advance that has lifted so many people out of poverty. It is scientific advance that has enabled the world to feed itself. It is widespread science that has enabled us to produce vaccines at a speed that even five years ago, a year ago, would have been thought unimaginable. It is science that has begun to give us a big picture of our place in the world. It is science that has driven our consciousness of the danger to the world of climate change and what we can do about it in the future. In all these things it is science that has been a gift to human beings.” 

Supporting Information: 

• This article is part of our wider ‘Science and Faith’ series, profiling the work of the Anglican Communion Science Commission and the Lambeth Call on Science and Faith. 

• Register now for our July webinars on themes of Science and Faith here.