declared yesterday that the Anglican Church is still a driving force in the world.

In his first visit to Bermuda, the Rev. Canon Roger Symon said: "I have come here as the Archbishop's representative to see the church in Bermuda for the first time and to express his interest in its welfare.'' Canon Symon, the Archbishop's Secretary for Anglican Communion Affairs, made his two-day visit just as the recently published census reported a 20 percent drop in local membership of the Anglican Church over the last decade.

Emphasising that he was not in a position to comment on the current state of the Anglican Church in Bermuda, Canon Symon said the overall picture in England was uneven and that this may be the case here: "Church attendance is only one factor. Our confirmations and ordinations have remained stable -- what matters more is that we have very lively congregations.'' He points to the fact that the Archbishop receives massive coverage from the media, which he said seemed to indicate that people look to him for guidance: "I certainly do not think that the Church of England is in the doldrums.'' The present Archbishop, George Carey, who took over as the titular head of the world-wide Anglican community when Robert Runcie retired last year, has been in the news constantly since his appointment. Most recently was last month, just before he went to the Vatican to meet the Pope. According to Canon Symon, the Archbishop commented in an interview that one of the most important issues facing the world was the population increase: "This was in connection with the earth summit and the Archbishop feels that no-one can consider the environment and the future development of the world without addressing the population problem. In Africa, for instance, the population has doubled in the last 20 years and is set to double again.'' Asked how the Pope reacted to these sentiments, Canon Symon made the perhaps diplomatic reply that he hasn't seen the Archbishop since the Vatican meeting, as he has been in the US making arrangements for the Primate's visit there in September: "Most of my work consists of travelling around the world. Although the Anglican community is much smaller than the Roman Catholic, we are much more widely spread.'' He also commented that the tradition of establishing Anglican mission schools ("they were the best schools and they have maintained the best standards''), has led to a disproportionate number of Anglicans in positions of world leadership: "Mrs. Ashwari, who is leading the Palestinians in the Arab/Israeli peace talks, is a case in point. Not only is she a Christian, she is also an Anglican. The Palestinian delegation approached the Archbishop to present their point of view, which he did. He spoke on their behalf during the debate on the peace talks in the House of Lords.'' Canon Symon, who, unlike Mr. Waite, was ordained and worked as a parish priest before being summoned to Lambeth Palace, has also been involved in the civil war in the Sudan, where there are Christians in the South and Moslems in the North and he said the Episcopalians there have also been anxious for the Archbishop's help.

Canon Symon said he does not expect his job as the Archbishop's secretary to be as newsworthy as it became with his famous predecessor: "I have been working in an acting capacity for five and a half years, ever since Terry Waite disappeared in 1987. When he was released, he felt he didn't want to go back to what he had been doing, so I was confirmed in the post.'' He said that Mr. Waite got involved with the hostages situation because the Archbishop had originally been asked for help when the Ayatollah took over in Iran: "Not everyone realises that there is a small Anglican church in Iran and when the revolution took place, some of the church members were locked up.

So the bishop in Iran asked the Archbishop to intervene. Terry, who has a great gift for getting through to people, offered to help in his capacity as the Archbishop's secretary. When he was successful, there were other requests for help and from there, it led to the hostages in Beirut. So the whole thing arose out of his proper role, but ended up going beyond it.'' The ironic twist, from Canon Symon's point of view, was that when Mr. Waite was finally released, he was overseas on another mission for the Archbishop, "so I missed all the excitement!'' FLYING VISIT -- The Rev. Canon Roger Symon, made his first visit to Bermuda as personal representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury when he flew in for a two-day stay on Saturday.