The Council was founded in 1952 by Bishop Archibald Rollo Graham Campbell, at a time when the ideas of Rata, Jathiya and Agama, country, nation and religion, were gaining force across the island. The church’s answer was to commit itself to proclaiming the Gospel. The Council has been doing that for seventy four years.
It takes its vision from Matthew 28, the making of disciples of all nations, and its mission from Luke 4: good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, sight for the blind, release for the oppressed. Evangelism is its particular charge. It works across all six Marks of Mission, on the view that evangelism done well leads the church into the other five.
The Mission National Conference
Held from 7 to 9 March 2024, and by common agreement a turning point. Three objectives came out of it: to strengthen the membership of the church through lives of witness and through workshops; to encourage people towards part-time and full-time ministry; and to put mission into action rather than resolution.
Members went back to their parishes and started things. Home cell prayer meetings, prayer fellowships on Zoom, renewal conventions, and discipleship programmes for children after their confirmation have all followed.
The first Annual General Meeting
On 21 February 2026 the Council held its first Annual General Meeting, the first in the history of the Diocese, in the Chamber of the Diocese of Colombo and under terms of reference approved by the Standing Committee. It changed how the Council works, with new structures and new approaches to mission across the nine deaneries and the four archdeaconries.
Purakottai
Under the Revd Charles Gnaniah at All Saints', Purakottai, the church reaches the Natami community, the porters of the Pettah wholesale markets. Around three hundred and fifty people are served kanji twice a month, on the second and fourth Sundays. Two men have been admitted to drug rehabilitation and more are being prepared, with the church funding it monthly. Some members of the community now come to Sunday worship.
How it works
The Council works through the nine Area Deans as mission leaders, with the clergy and church representatives who support them. Its plans include empowerment programmes at youth camps in all nine regions, follow up for young people who have committed to ministry, programmes for newly married couples and families, orientation for adults who have recently been baptised, and evangelistic training offered in three languages across the nine regions.
Seventy five years
The Council keeps its 75th anniversary in 2027 with a service of thanksgiving at the Cathedral, and the whole Diocese is invited. Its conviction for the years ahead is short: every Anglican church on this island was founded by missionaries, so every Anglican church should be a missionary church.
Secretary: the Revd Harold Shridharan Paul.