The Archbishop of Melanesia is the spiritual head of the Church of the Province of Melanesia

Church of the Province of Melanesia

The Church of the Province of Melanesia is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 8 dioceses. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Melanesia The Most Rev'd David Vunagi.- Official name :...

, which is a province of the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...

 in the South Pacific region, covering the nations of Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 and Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

. From 1861 until the inauguration of Church of the Province of Melanesia

Church of the Province of Melanesia

The Church of the Province of Melanesia is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 8 dioceses. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Melanesia The Most Rev'd David Vunagi.- Official name :...

 in 1975, the Bishop of Melanesia was the head of the Diocese of Melanesia.

Responsibility of the Archbishop

The Church of Melanesia consists of eight dioceses, formed into a single province. The Archbishop of Melanesia is therefore:

• Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Central Melanesia;
• Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province;
• Primate of the Melanesian Church, and its representative to the Anglican Primates' meeting.

History of the See

The first Bishop of Melanesia was John Patteson, consecrated in 1861. Three years later his church suffered its first two martyrdoms, and the Bishop was himself martyred in September 1871. He is now remembered in the calendar (list of saints) of many Anglican provinces. The mission to Melanesia advanced, and the diocese was subdivided and regional diocesan bishops created, until in 1975 it was officially formed into a new Province of the Anglican church with the Bishop of Melanesia, John Chisholm, becoming the first Bishop of Central Melanesia and Archbishop of Melanesia.

The primatial archbishop title belongs ex officio to the diocesan bishop of that metropolitan see – as such, the bishop elected as Archbishop leaves his previous see and is translated to Central Melanesia in order to become primate. Chisholm died shortly after appointment and the then dean of St. Barnabas Cathedral, Norman Palmer, was chosen the second Archbishop. After the retirement of Archbishop Norman, the third Archbishop was Amos Waiaru, who served until Ellison Pogo

Ellison Pogo

The Archbishop of Melanesia and Bishop of Central Melanesia from 1994 until December 9, 2008 was the Most Reverend Sir Ellison Leslie Pogo, KBE. He was the third Archbishop of Melanesia, following Amos Waiaru, who followed Norman Palmer....

 replaced him in the office where he served for fourteen years from 1994 to December 2008. He was honored by Elizabeth II – becoming a Knight of the Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

It appears that, despite the tradition that knighted clergy do not use the title "Sir", Pogo is commonly referred to as Sir Ellison. – and by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

 – being awarded the rare medal of the Order of St Augustine.

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Melanesia

Bishops of Melanesia
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1861	1871	John Patteson	Martyred in office.
1877	1892	John Selwyn	Invalided back to the United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... .
1894	1911	Cecil Wilson Cecil Wilson Cecil Wilson was the third missionary Anglican Bishop of Melanesia from 1894 to 1911 and, subsequently, the second Bishop of Bunbury from 1918 to 1937. Educated at Tonbridge School, Wilson became an 1882 graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, Wilson served parishes in England before his consecration...	Translated Translation (ecclesiastical) Translation is the technical term when a Bishop is transferred from one diocese to another.This can be* From Suffragan Bishop status to Diocesan Bishop*From Coadjutor bishop to Diocesan Bishop*From one country's Episcopate to another...  to Bunbury, Australia Bishop of Bunbury (Anglican) The Bishop of Bunbury is the diocesan bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Bunbury.One holder was Cecil Wilson , from 1918 to 1937. Its present holder is the Right Reverend David McCall.... .
1912	1919	Cecil Wood	Returned to the United Kingdom.
1919	1928	John Steward	Returned to the United Kingdom.
1928	1931	Frederick Molyneux	Assistant bishop Assistant Bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.-Church of England:In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually are retired bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops...  in Melanesia since 1924; resigned following a mental breakdown Mental breakdown Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:... .
1931	1937	John Dickinson John Dickinson (bishop) John Hubert Dickinson was Assistant Bishop of Melanesia from 1931 to 1937, and was a bishop for more than 60 years.-Life:Dickinson was born in 1901, the only son of Rev. Harry G. Dickinson and his second wife Edina C. V. Johnson... , Assistant Bishop of Melanesia	Assistant bishop Assistant Bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.-Church of England:In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually are retired bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops...  only; returned to the United Kingdom.
1932	1947	Walter Baddeley	Translated to Whitby Bishop of Whitby The Bishop of Whitby is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of York, in the Province of York, England.The title takes its name after the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire...  and later Blackburn Bishop of Blackburn The Bishop of Blackburn is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn in the Province of York.The diocese covers much of the county of Lancashire and has its see in the town of Blackburn, where the seat of the diocese is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary... .
1948	1958	Sydney Caulton
1958	1967	Alfred Hill
1968	1975	John Chisholm	Previously auxiliary bishop Auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...  in New Guinea Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea became a discrete province of the Anglican Communion when the Anglican Province of Papua New Guinea was separated from the Anglican ecclesiastical Province of Queensland, Australia, in 1976 following Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia in 1975. Its... ; became Archbishop of Melanesia in 1975.
Archbishops of Melanesia
1975	1975	John Chisholm	Died in office.
1975	1987	Norman Palmer
1988	1993	Amos Waiaru	Translated from Temotu.
1994	2008	Sir Ellison Pogo Ellison Pogo The Archbishop of Melanesia and Bishop of Central Melanesia from 1994 until December 9, 2008 was the Most Reverend Sir Ellison Leslie Pogo, KBE. He was the third Archbishop of Melanesia, following Amos Waiaru, who followed Norman Palmer....	Translated from Ysabel; knighted in 2000.
2009	present	David Vunagi David Vunagi -Notes:...	Translated from Temotu.

Election of an Archbishop

The college of electors, who choose the new primate during a vacancy, last met from 3–5 March 2009, to carry out their electoral duties following Sir Ellison's retirement. They elected David Vunagi

David Vunagi

-Notes:...

, Bishop of Temotu, as the new Archbishop of Melanesia. He was therefore translated to the Diocese of Central Melanesia and became the Archbishop of Melanesia ex officio. He was enthroned on the Feast of Pentecost

Pentecost

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

, 31 May 2009.