[ACNS] The Anglican Church of Melanesia has this morning announced that its new Archbishop and Primate will be the Rt Revd George Takeli, the current Bishop of Temotu. Bishop Takeli will be enthroned on the 17 April at the Saint Barnabas Provincial Cathedral and will also become Bishop of the Diocese of Central Melanesia.

He succeeds Archbishop David Vunagi who retired September 2015.

Bishop Takeli’s appointment as Archbishop was made by the Provincial Electoral Board of the Anglican Church of Melanesia. They had been meeting at Tetete Ni Kolivuti – the recently built conference hall of the Community of the Sisters of the Church at Tenaru area in east Honiara.

Born in Suholo village on Ulawa Island in the province of Makira Ulawa, 56-year-old George Takeli was ordained to the priesthood in 1995 and served as a priest in the Anglican Church for 16 years before being made the fourth Bishop of Temotu in August 2009.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Theology from the University of Auckland and was undertaking a doctoral degree in theology at Charles Stuart University in Australia.

Bishop Takeli has named his main priorities as Archbishop of Melanesia will be to establish an active missionary church alongside a strong and effective administration system and a strong investment division for the Anglican Church of Melanesia

The Archbishop-Elect will be accompanied by his second wife, June Mole, whom he married last December. His first wife, Lillian, died in 2014.