The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church is this week attending the first in-person gathering of Anglican Primates since they met in Jordan in January 2020.

The arrival of Covid a few weeks later put paid to any further in-person gatherings over the next two years, although online meetings were held in November 2020 and 2021 to discuss a range of issues, including the global impact of the pandemic.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Right Hon Justin Welby, is playing host to the senior archbishops, presiding bishops or moderators from across the Anglican Communion this week, at Lambeth Palace in London.

“It has been a joy to spend time in the company of other Primates,” said the Most Rev Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. “The programme is giving us space to pray together, worship together and share stories together.

“The business agenda has begun and we are sharing concerns about the environment, the refugee situation and the many conflicts around the world.”

It had originally been planned for the meeting to take place in Rome, but was switched to London at a time when travel restrictions in Italy meant that a significant number of Primates would not have been able to fully participate. A small number of invited Primates are taking part in the meeting online because of return-travel restrictions in their home countries.

This week’s meeting is a precursor to the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade gathering to which all bishops in the Anglican Communion are invited. Postponed from 2020, the Lambeth Conference will take place in Canterbury in July and August this year.

There is a reduced amount of “formal” business in this week’s Primates’ Meeting – the emphasis is on prayer, Bible Study, relationship-building and spiritual reflection.

However, the Primates will hear from Dr Marion Watson, Head of Operations at the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford. Dr Watson has overseen a wide range of clinical trial research and development activities on vaccines for malaria, TB and emerging pathogens, including vaccine trials for Covid-19.

They will also hear from a government minister from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; and visit the House of Lords.