Lambeth Conference: ‘Efforts must be made to preserve integrity of Church’

Thursday, 17th July 2008. 11:16am

By George Conger

Canterbury: The 14th Lambeth Conference will not settle the disputes dividing the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said last night, but an effort must be made to keep the conversation going to preserve the integrity of the Church.

Speaking to the some 600 bishops and their spouses at the opening session on the evening of July 16, Dr Williams outlined his vision for the conference around the theme of “building relationships.”

Forming personal relations among the college of the Anglican Communion’s bishops by itself will not settle the disputes of doctrine and discipline, he acknowledged, but “it is certain that without the building of relationships the challenges will never be resolved," he said according to bishops present at the opening session.

Bishops began arriving on Wednesday on the campus of the University of Kent situated on a hill to the south of Canterbury, with lines snaking across the campus as the bishops registered for the conference and were assigned dormitory rooms. A corps of yellow-sashed volunteers ranging in age from university students to elderly clergy escorted the new arrivals to their assigned rooms, while also enthusiastically patrolling the boundaries of the plenary areas --- keeping the press and on-lookers on the far side of a 10-foot high chain link fence.

Participants in the Conference have been divided into castes denoted by the color of the lanyard holding their name tag, with the freedom to roam determined by one’s colour. Bishops and their spouses wear purple, volunteers yellow, exhibitors at the Marketplace --- the venue for shops and special interest groups wear white, the press blue and conference staff red.

“Red is home, blue away” the bishops were told in the closed evening session that outlined the mechanics of the conference in between bouts of hymn singing, with the bishops cautioned to be careful in what they say to “outsiders.”

During the evening presentation Dr Williams offered a brief summary of his hopes for the conference, while his wife, Jane Williams discussed the plans for the spouses’ conference, and general housekeeping chores were conducted. A total count on the number of bishops present will not be ready until the end of the three-day retreat and the start of the conference business session on Sunday, a spokesman said. However between 600 and 700 of the Communion’s 900 bishops are expected to attend. While four provinces: Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya have declined to attend the conference, some bishops from Nigeria, Rwanda and Kenya appear to have broken ranks with their colleagues and made the pilgrimage to Canterbury.

Some of the benefits of modern technology are on display at the 14th Lambeth Conference. American bishops, who comprise a fifth of the bishops at Lambeth have been outfitted with mobile phones by their national church offices in New York, while a cadre of “blogging bishops” from America have been given the task of sharing their experiences with the church at home via the internet. Talking points have also been provided to the Americans, to assist them in fending off difficult questions from the media. At the 1998 conference rudimentary translation facilities for Spanish- and French-speaking bishops were available, while this month’s conference has equipped bishops with headsets that provide translation into eight different languages. English-speaking bishops have been asked to carry their head sets as well, as some sessions will be given by Spanish and French speakers. The mood on the opening day of the conference was mixed. For the majority of bishops, the 14th Lambeth Conference will be their first pan-Anglican gathering, and a sense of excitement and anticipation at meeting bishops from other countries and being at the conference was palpable. At the same time there was a sense of exhaustion evident --- both from the rigours of travel and from the stresses dividing the Communion.

At a “photo opportunity” held at the Old Palace at Canterbury Cathedral for a dozen new bishops, Dr Williams appeared tense and ill at ease, uncomfortable in posing for the television cameras before the Cathedral while crowds of tourists watched the proceedings. However, he came into his own later in the day when the public spotlight was averted, giving an energetic performance at the night’s housekeeping meeting. Dr Williams took his evening meal in the bar of Darwin College, one of the University’s residential colleges that are housing the bishops --- and one of the few places where the conference colour line is not enforced.

Over the course of Thursday, Friday and Saturday the bishops will meet in retreat. Dr Williams and other speakers will present five lectures and the bishops will divide into Bible study groups. Whether the pan-Anglican bonhomie evident on the opening day survives the intrusion of reality by Sunday remains to be seen as division lurks just below the surface.

A “Lambeth Reader” distributed to the bishops with their registration packets, but unread by almost all, advances arguments harshly critical on theological grounds of those who have stayed away. Prepared by the Inter Anglican Doctrinal and Theological Commission some months ago, the Reader argues that “given the present state of the Anglican Communion it is the special collegial responsibility of the bishop to be at prayer for and with fellow colleagues. “This is particularly relevant for those bishops who are in conflict with one another. Their failure to attend fervently to this ordinal vow weakens the body of Christ for which they have responsibility. This in turn weakens the bonds that all the baptised share with one another,” the document argues.

In the marketplace, the Bishop of New Hampshire has set up a stall with the aim of telling his “story” to the world. A skilled communicator, Bishop Robinson will likely be a favourite of the press as he is not bound by the rules of the conference and speaks freely and pointed about the divisions within the church. While Pope Benedict XVI is half a world away in Australia, the Catholic Church’s disquiet over recent actions by General Synod and by the American and Canadian churches is a topic of concern among traditionalists, and the potential exists for women bishops to supplant the homosexuality question as a point of contention.

In the midst of these stresses stands Dr Williams, whose mettle and diplomatic and pastoral skills will be put to the test over the coming days. A failed 2008 Lambeth Conference --- one that breaks apart in acrimony or collapses into funk and indecision, may well be the last Lambeth Conference.