For some years now the Anglican Church in Nigeria has been contending with the problems arising from the creation of missionary dioceses. Many retreats for the bishops in the missionary dioceses have been held from late 2000 to date, in an effort to find solutions to the problems, yet the problems have continued unabated. The situation provokes concern and interest in public discourse and intellectual circles. This study examines critically the problems of missionary dioceses and the effects of such problems on the workers and their families therein using a historical approach and both primary and secondary sources. The findings show that some of the missionary dioceses were created with poor funding and facilities as there was no adequate preparation for their creation. The study therefore recommends that the Church of Nigeria should support the missionary dioceses to stabilize.

In the New South Wales Supreme Court decision of Anglican Development Fund Diocese of Bathurst v Palmer in December 2015, a single judge of the court held that a large amount of money which had been lent to institutions in the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst, and guaranteed by a letter of comfort issued by the then bishop of the diocese, had to be repaid by the bishop-in-council, including (should it be necessary) levying the necessary funds from the parishes. The lengthy judgment contains a number of interesting comments on the legal personality of church entities and may have long-term implications (and not merely in Australia) for unincorporated, mainstream denominations and their contractual and tortious liability to meet orders for payment of damages. The article discusses the decision and some of those implications.