Anglican Church of South America

Anglican Church of South America
Primate	Gregory Venables
Territory	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay
Members	c. 25,000

The Anglican Church of South America (Spanish: Iglesia Anglicana de Sudamérica) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers seven dioceses in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Formed in 1981, the province had 25,000 members in April 2013. Its members in South America are thinly spread, making it one of the smaller provinces in the Anglican Communion in terms of numbers, although one of the largest in geographical extent.

The province was known as "The Province of the Southern Cone of America" from its formation in 1981 until September 2014, when it formally changed its name to "The Anglican Church of South America".

During the 19th century, British immigrants to South America brought Anglicanism with them (Milmine & p.8). In Britain, a voluntary Anglican society was formed in 1844 [2] to evangelize the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego. This later became the South American Mission Society (SAMS) and extended its activities to the Araucanian regions of Chile and the Chaco. It still has an important place in the life of the church.

The first diocese was established in 1869 as the Diocese of the Falkland Islands and the rest of South America, excepting British Guyana. The see of the bishop was in Buenos Aires (Milmine & p.11). Despite its title, the diocese's effective territory was restricted to the Southern Cone plus Peru and Bolivia. By contrast, Anglican/Episcopal congregations in Brazil and the more northern Spanish-speaking countries were effectively under the wing of the Episcopal Church of the USA (Milmine & p.9). As the Anglican Church and its mission grew in South America, new dioceses were created from that larger one. Missionary bishops were appointed to smaller dioceses.

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