3 April 2001

[ACNS London] The President of the Compass Rose Society, Bishop Francis C. Gray, today announced that Bishop Herbert Donovan would become its Executive Director effective October 1, 2001. Bishop Donovan is completing his term as the interim Anglican Observer to the United Nations. He said, when reflecting on this new position, "I am excited about this new opportunity to support the work of the Anglican Communion."

Bishop Donovan has also served as the Vicar of Trinity Church, New York City, since he resigned as the 11th Bishop of Arkansas. In his "retirement" he has also served as a provisional bishop in Chicago and as an assisting bishop in New Jersey. He and his wife, Mary, make their home in Dobbs Ferry, New York.

The Compass Rose Society Board of Directors, meeting in Kanuga, North Carolina also adopted a budget of $1.19 million for 2001 which will further its role in the support of the worldwide Anglican Communion. More than two thirds of this budget will support various mission initiatives that the Society has adopted around the Communion including the Gaza hospital, health clinics in the bush in Nigeria, rebuilding church offices in Cuba, and helping to complete the construction of an Anglican Centre in Salamanca, Spain. "Most of the balance will continue to support the vital work of telling the story of the millions of Anglican Christians around the world who have no voice" said Canon John L. Peterson, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.

The Board of Directors was also pleased to hear that the first major gift for its recently established endowment fund has been received and that other gifts were anticipated. This endowment fund will provide a financial underpinning for the ongoing work of the Communion so that the Society can continue to emphasise the work of mission.

The Compass Rose Society was established in 1998 to provide resources and encouragement for the work of the Anglican Communion. It has the enthusiastic support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev George L. Carey, who said at the recent meeting of the Anglican Primates, also held in Kanuga, "the Compass Rose Society is one of the most exciting developments in recent years and makes it possible for us to tell the story of our communion and also respond to some of the urgent needs of our member churches."

Members of the Compass Rose Society are planning to visit Hong Kong and mainland China in June and Tanzania in October as they continue to seek ways to unite the world through compassion in Christ.