Lambeth 2008 ends

Lambeth Conference to end with conciliatory statement
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent, in Canterbury

A CONCILIATORY statement is expected at the end of the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, which concludes tomorrow evening.

Sources indicate the statement will be open and will demonstrate a willingness to embrace those approximately 250 Anglican bishops who stayed away from Lambeth 2008. They did so in protest at how decisions by North American provinces to consecrate a gay bishop and institute same-sex blessings have been dealt with to date.

Yesterday the 670 bishops attending the conference discussed a draft covenant presented by the Covenant Design Group. Archbishop Drexel Gomez, chairman of the design group, said the covenant would consider the bishops’ responses at a meeting in Singapore next month, after which the communion’s 44 churches, in 38 provinces, will be invited to make further submissions before the end of March next year, including those provinces absent from Lambeth 2008.

These will be considered by the design group at a meeting next April, following which they will make recommendations for a covenant to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), which will discuss it in June 2009. It is expected that the ACC will then invite churches/provinces to sign up to an agreed text.

Those who don’t “would not cease to be Anglican, but clearly they would be in a different relationship to those churches which do”, as one source put it yesterday.

The emphasis in the covenant document, as Archbishop Gomez explained yesterday, would be on “autonomy within communion” and “agreement in principle to staying and working together as a communion”. The covenant document will be in three sections: (i) dealing with inherited faith; (ii) addressing common mission; and (iii) looking at the consequences which flow out of working together.

The design group “did not attempt to produce a document dealing with the issues before the communion”, he said. It was “dealing with a framework” for addressing disputes, “not sanction”, he said. The covenant would “express explicitly the glue which holds the Anglican communion together”, another source said. It would not be legalistic, but rather would be a “relational” document.

Meanwhile, the Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Alan Harper, said yesterday he would prefer to see more regular Lambeth Conferences which would be “shorter, more focused, with fewer side-shows”. He spoke of his experience of the indaba process as “immensely positive”, and in particular the more recent sessions, which had been “very, very refreshing”.

He hoped the final document which emerges from the ACC next year would be “simple, uncomplicated, and will encapsulate what it means to be Anglican. If the things said here are not reflected in it there will be very significant disappointment,” he said.

Those bishops not present had been “missed” and “were prayed for almost every day. Their position was held by a good number here,” he said.
© 2008 The Irish Times


What the Lambeth Conference Accomplished

The Lambeth Conference accomplished some very important work, but in the closing press conference on Aug. 3, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said if the North American churches do not accept the need for a moratorium on same-sex blessings and the consecration of additional partnered gay bishops, then the Anglican Communion is no further forward.

Archbishop Williams listed three accomplishments for the 20-day Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in Canterbury, England:

1 Bishops proved they could speak to each other respectfully and prayerfully.
2. They expressed a strong commitment to remain unified.
3. The Millennium Development Goals demonstration in London on July 24 proved that even “in its current rather wobbly state,” the Anglican Communion was capable of accomplishing significant action and witness.

On the other hand, the idea of moratorium was apparently not taken seriously by many bishops from The Episcopal Church. Bishops Jon Bruno of Los Angeles and Marc Andrus of California already have said they would not attempt to stop the blessing of gay relationships in their dioceses, and in the Diocese of Massachusetts on Aug. 2, two priests participated in civil same-sex marriages for two couples inside Episcopal churches.

“The current policy, well, I wouldn’t say policy of the American church, but some of the practices of dioceses, or certain dioceses, in the American church continues to put our relations as a Communion under strain and some problems won’t be resolved while those practices continue,” Archbishop Williams said. “I might just add, perhaps a note here. One complication in discussing all this is that assumption, readily made, that the blessing of a same-sex union and/or the ordination of someone in an active same-sex relationship is simply a matter of human rights … That’s an assumption I can’t accept because I think the issues about what conditions the church lays down for the blessing of unions has to be shaped by its own thinking, its own praying.”

Archbishop Williams was asked what was meant by the Windsor Continuation Group’s recommendation for a moratorium on public rites for same-sex blessings. Different parts of the world define public rites of blessing in different ways, adding to the confusion, according to Archbishop Williams. A primates’ communiqué following a meeting in Brazil in 2003 noted that in some places private prayers were said, but that was not intended to include public liturgies.

“There are those in the U.S.A. who would say ‘pastoral response.’ Well, it’s a blessing and I’m not very happy about that,” he said.

Innovations to church teaching on homosexuality in North America caused roughly 280 of the 880 invited bishops of the Anglican Communion to boycott the Lambeth Conference. According to registration information provided to The Living Church and Church of England Newspaper, the total number of Anglican bishops who pre-registered was only 617, and not all of them were present. The two largest provinces – Nigeria and Uganda – did not send any bishops. There was one bishop registered from Rwanda and five from Kenya. Conference organizers included all of the ecumenical bishops in attendance to arrive at the total of 670 present when registration closed on July 21.

Many of the bishops who were absent and a number who did attend the Lambeth Conference attended the Global Anglican Fellowship Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem in June. GAFCON and the absence of more than 30 percent of the bishops of the Communion were frequently mentioned during the conference. The absence of so many bishops from the Global South increased the proportional representation of bishops from The Episcopal Church to nearly a quarter of the overall total.

For various reasons the conference will probably run a deficit of at least $2 million. A document titled “Lambeth Conference Finances” dated January 2008 estimated that the bishops’ conference would cost about $9 million with the spouses’ conference adding another $2.5 million. The document notes that more than 40 percent of conference participants would require some sort of financial assistance in order to pay the $8,000 conference fee. During the closing press conference Archbishop Williams said conference organizers were studying various ways to cover the probable shortfall.

“We knew this would be difficult,” he said. “I don’t think I can go into details because I don’t have direct management of the question … I’m rather concerned about that.”

Steve Waring

Ignatian Discernment

An alternative to the Indaba process at Lambeth 2008 could have been some form of Ignatian Discernment. The future of the Anglican Communion may have been better served if this had been so. Today is the feast day of Ignatius Loyola.

Individual Discernment

The underlying philosophy- Making choices- Guidelines when making choices

The Underlying Philosophy of Ignatian Discernment
Ignatius of Loyola developed his Spiritual Exercises to help people come to decisions about where to go and what to do in their lives. The process involves the followers of Christ becoming more sensitive to the action of God in their lives. The underlying sense of the Exercises is one of trusting self and feelings. The belief is that God’s desire for each one of us is that we should be at peace and joyful. We should normally be in a state of consolation or feel that we are in the right place and doing the right thing.Even those who are not convinced Christians would find the general principles and guidelines for discernment helpful, but you might find it more helpful to change references to Christ to whatever is the divine in your life or just to 'the good'.

Therefore, when faced with choices, it is good to choose what brings a sense of contentment, what gives ‘consolation’. We know from Christian teaching and everyday experience, that what brings deep human joy is not selfishness, shallow relationships with pretty girls or boys, or having all that money can buy, but rather living a life of service, reaching out to others, especially those most in need, and a forgetfulness of self. Forgetfulness of self does not imply despising or not liking self, rather it is based on self-acceptance, respect and appreciation of that great gift of God to me - which is my own self. It is only when I see myself as good and lovable can I have anything good to offer others and God.

As we are pre-programmed to gain consolation from doing what is right and desolation from doing wrong, Ignatian spirituality seeks to find what brings us consolation and through this, know what is right.

Ignatius uses the imagery of his time, seeing the soul as the battle ground between the spirits of good and evil. We have the free-will to follow the promptings of either the good or bad spirit. Some people like to translate this as a sort of inner movement rather than external powers. But whatever our preferred imagery, can see it as a choice between what brings life, and what deadens our spirit.

We should seek only God’s glory, not our own.

Making a Choice
In making a choice or decision it is of central importance to seek God’s will – to serve God and my fellow human beings.

1. Sometimes what I have to do, comes with great and unmistakable clarity – it is blindingly obvious.
2. At other times I feel enthusiasm for a choice and dullness with other options. The up and down movements of my spirit can lead me gradually to a realisation of where my heart lies – where God is prompting me.
3. There are times when I have to work out logically the best choice, looking at all the pro’s and cons.But even when I have finished making a choice this way, I should ‘feel’ comfortable and consoled with the final decision.

Some Rules for Discernment of Spirits

For anyone who is genuinely seeking to do what is right, the Good Spirit will bring enthusiasm, life, strength, tears, encouragement, views of a way ahead, peace and consolation

The Good Spirit also brings realism; an acknowledgement and sorrow for sin, but peace as a loved and forgiven sinner called to follow Christ.

The Bad Spirit will bring endless problems, difficulties, doubts, desolation and confusion. We feel mired in our sin; unchangeable and unforgivable. We don’t see a future. We are weighed down. We have no taste for prayer or spiritual things, we are rebellious and selfish. We are encouraged to give up!The ultimate success of the evil one is suicide.

God encourages, beckons, gently, invites us on.The evil one forces, or suggests there is no choice.

If we know our own weakness, we will know where temptation is most likely to strike – our weaknesses are so often the shadow side of our greatest gifts.

In times of desolation don’t change plans made in consolation. Desolation might be positive, it could turn us to God, or help us realise that consolation is God’s gift, not our own doing. When suffering from desolation, try to return to consolation. It might be useful to return to what brought consolation in the past.

In times of consolation, store the memory for the bad times. Try to stay with consolation.

Often the person who is trying really hard to do what is right will find themselves attacked by unsettling temptations. Such a person may be so encouraged to doubt their naturally mixed motives in doing good that they turn away from doing good. The focus has been brought round to self and one’s own motives, not on the needs of the other. It is also normal to get ‘cold feet’ when faced with big decisions – remember not to change in desolation and that even ‘big’ decisions are rarely for life.

The things of God tend to be open to the light; the things of evil tend to secrecy and duplicity. Therefore being open and talking to someone about our choices can be helpful.

Communal Discernment

Comes from the second week of the Spiritual Exercises [no 170]. Issues come up everyday. Hence this communal response is for important decisions; a real need to discern must exist. A willingness to take the time and energy for, and fidelity to reflection must be there. The proposal and terms are to be accepted clearly and unambiguously. The proposal must be a statement, non rhetorical in nature, and in the affirmative. At this point it must be clear that all understand the terms in the same way - it is too late later. A gathering of all the data is necessary to make an intelligent decision. All participants must be communicated with. The group should be aware of the authority that they have - is the group deliberative or consultative? The religious conditions must be established. For example, the group might begin with some faith sharing. If it is a religious congregation, some of the autobiography of the founder could be used. A faith story or some scripture could be employed. This enables the participants to grow in trust, to know more about the interiority of the others in the group.

What does unanimity mean?
This is the hardest question. What if an individual discerns differently from the rest? Does his/her contrary discernment invalidate the process? Is it a sign that he/she has not discerned properly? Is that person a renegade, or a prophet of the community? The unanimity is not in the head, but in the heart. The process is not about a unanimity of opinions or ideas but a shared felt sense that this is God's word to the community at this point in its history. We are discerning feelings. It is possible to feel that something is God's will without understanding why?

A Process for Discernment in Common
1.Define the question. The definition ought to be precise. The question ought to be of sufficient importance to warrant such discernment. The question should be of the form that requires either a "Yes" or "No" response. For example, not "What shall we do about the community service programme?" but "One week of Community Service will be an integral part of the curriculum in all secondary years beginning next year."
2. At the beginning of the process everyone attempts to come to true indifference and to place him/herself in the presence of God, personally and as a member of the community. Personal and community prayer is essential at this point.
3.The question is put and reasons are given firstly only in favour, the "pros". At this point there are no arguments. Points of clarification may be asked, but there is no debate, only mutual listening and a pervasive climate of prayer. The intention at this point is to make a strong case "for" the question. The group moves around the circle again, until all the reasons are exhausted. No one is to dominate. All are attentive.
4.The ‘pros’ are then organised and weighed. Two people are asked to take them down. The community helps them group and rank them.
5. There is time for individual prayer and reflection before the next gathering.
6. The group regathers and hears the case against, the ‘cons’. This may be a week later. Again, no debate or discussion, only clarification and listening. Steps three and four above are repeated.
7. There is further time for reflection and prayer - perhaps another week or more. There then may be an exchange about the different contributions by members of the group. Also a sharing of "where the Spirit is speaking to me in all this". People may share how their views have altered as a result of prayer and reflection - but no debate.
8. The final session begins. The question is asked of the group, "Are you comfortable with making the decision today?" If so, the group proceeds. The vote is made. The result is taken and the strongest reasons are given. The minority are then asked, "Are you comfortable trusting in the majority?" A moment more is taken. "How are you before God? Are you at peace?" (This is an important moment, sometimes emotional.)
9.Either the group adopts this consensus or, in a religious community, competent superior makes the decision. A time of confirmation completes the process, that is, the participants sit with the result for a week or a month and see how they feel about the decision.

Where do we go from here?

This is where we are at. Lambeth 2008 seems to be suggesting a 5th Instrument of Communion.

Instruments of Communion

The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. It is surmounted, like ecclesiastical coats of arms, by a bishop's mitre; in the centre is a cross of St. George recalling the communion's origins in the Church of England. The Greek motto, Ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθερώσει ὑμᾶς ("The truth will set you free") is a quotation from John 8:32. It was designed by Edward Nason West, Canon of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

The Anglican Communion has no international juridical organisation. The Archbishop of Canterbury's role is strictly symbolic and unifying; and the Communion's three international bodies are consultative and collaborative, their resolutions having no legal effect on the independent provinces of the Communion. Taken together, however, the four do function as "instruments of communion", since all churches of the communion participate in them. In order of antiquity, they are:

The Archbishop of Canterbury (ab origine) functions as the spiritual head of the Communion. He is the focus of unity, since no church claims membership in the Communion without being in communion with him. The present incumbent is Dr Rowan Williams.

The Lambeth Conference (first held in 1867) is the oldest international consultation. It is a forum for bishops of the Communion to reinforce unity and collegiality through manifesting the episcopate, to discuss matters of mutual concern, and to pass resolutions intended to act as guideposts. It is held roughly every ten years and invitation is by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Anglican Consultative Council (first met in 1971) was created by a 1968 Lambeth Conference resolution, and meets usually at three year intervals. The council consists of representative bishops, clergy, and laity chosen by the thirty-eight provinces. The body has a permanent secretariat, the Anglican Communion Office, of which the Archbishop of Canterbury is president.

The Primates' Meeting (first met in 1979) is the most recent manifestation of international consultation and deliberation, having been first convened by Archbishop Donald Coggan as a forum for "leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation."

Since there is no binding authority in the Communion, these international bodies are a vehicle for consultation and persuasion. In recent years, persuasion has tipped over into debates over conformity in certain areas of doctrine, discipline, worship, and ethics. The most notable example has been the objection of many provinces of the Communion (particularly in Africa and Asia) to the changing role of homosexuals in the North American churches (e.g., by blessing same-sex unions and ordaining and consecrating gays and lesbians in same-sex relationships), and to the process by which changes were undertaken. Those who objected condemned these actions as unscriptural, unilateral, and without the agreement of the Communion prior to these steps being taken. In response, the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada answered that the actions had been undertaken after lengthy scriptural and theological reflection, legally in accordance with their own canons and constitutions and after extensive consultation with the provinces of the Communion.

The Primates' Meeting voted to request the two churches to withdraw their delegates from the 2005 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, and Canada and the United States decided to attend the meeting but without exercising their right to vote. They have not been expelled or suspended, since there is no mechanism in this voluntary association to suspend or expel an independent province of the Communion. Since membership is based on a province's communion with Canterbury, expulsion would require the Archbishop of Canterbury's refusal to be in communion with the affected jurisdiction(s). In line with the suggestion of the Windsor Report, Dr Williams has recently established a working group to examine the feasibility of an Anglican covenant which would articulate the conditions for communion in some fashion.


The Windsor Continuation Group (WCG) is making waves at Lambeth. Essentially they have proposed that the trajectory of the Covenant idea lead to a form of Covenant that will include a process of punitive or coercive judgment. The end result would be the development of an Instrument of Communion with teeth.

The Windsor Continuation Group has been making reports to the bishops at Lambeth. Reports I and II are now in hand. They are billed as "preliminary observations" as if that would cushion the blow, but the content has been anything but preliminary. Additionally a report on principles of canon law has been added to the mix.

On the Windsor Continuation Group

I have just had a brief look at reports about the report of the Windsor Continuation Group to the Lambeth Conference.The important thing is to put this in perspective — going right back through all the Primates' meetings at Dar es Salaam, Dromantine and so on, to the very last Lambeth Conference and the American response to that, and then projecting forward from what has been happening to what will therefore most likely happen in the future.Then consider the Group's proposal that disaffected (or, if you will, traditionalist and faithful) dioceses and parishes in North America should be put in a kind of safe 'holding pen', isolated from outside interventions (or, to put it another way, sat on the 'naughty step' without help) until they are ready to return to their revisionist parent bodies.As a response to what has been happening, this is beyond the realms of self-delusion into 'La La Land'.The only phrase I can think of to describe it is, 'as much use as a chocolate ladder at a house fire'.The sooner this whole farce comes to an end, the better for all concerned.
(John Richardson, The Ugley Vicar)

Lambeth mid-way

Mid-way through the Lambeth Conference (Bishop of London)

Emerging, blinking, into the sunlight from the latest indaba group I have been surprised at the solicitude with which friends not at the conference have enquired after my health and imagined that I was having a torrid time.

The reality is rather different and during the course of the past week some simple things have become very clear.

The first is that the Anglican Communion exists at all and that it is growing rapidly. When the link between the Diocese of Salisbury and the Sudan was established over thirty years ago there was a single Diocese in the Sudan. Soon, according to Bishop Anthony Poggo of the Diocese of Kajo-Keji there will be 31.

The Conference is an opportunity for making new friends and marvelling at the work being done by bishops around the world.

Bishop Francis of Seoul in South Korea is a contemplative who has working hard at promoting reconciliation with the north across one of the most dangerous political fault lines in the world.

Bishop Hilary Garang and other Sudanese bishops are serving in contested areas of the country organising relief for tens of thousands of refugees without neglecting the need to secure universal primary education for their communities.

Our own friends in ALMA are also involved in a huge educational effort in which we have the privilege to be involved as a Diocese in London.

This fellowship which embraces 130 countries transcends every conceivable barrier of race, language and political regime.

It would be a tragedy if its potential were to be neglected because the second simple point is that we live in an interconnected world where many of the challenges we face require a global response.

The climate change challenge and the evident lack of equity in the distribution of the earth's finite resources will demand a transformation in the way we live.

The moral energy for that transformation is powerfully increased by direct personal relationships with friends the other side of the world who lead some of the vulnerable communities that are feeling the effects of phenomena like rising sea levels now.

The service which we held in the Grosvenor Chapel before we participated as Christians in the Stop Climate Change Chaos demonstration in London was powerfully motivated by an appeal from the bishops of Bangla-desh.

Global challenges which require a global response and a change of heart make the existence of organisations like the Anglican Communion ever more valuable. But how are we to organise our own life together, our conversation and co-operation?

Most of our arrangements are comparatively recent and provisional. The Lambeth Conference itself was convened in response to a bitter controversy in Southern Africa between the Archbishop of Capetown and that sometime Harrow schoolmaster Bishop Colenso.

The process of de-colonisation and the replacement of bishops of British origin in much of the Communion by the 1960s influenced the formation of the Anglican Consultative Council.

The Communion needs a secretariat but like many ecumenical institutions the ACC is always in danger of becoming the province of specialists who find it difficult to secure practical legitimacy what ever the constitution might assert. In consequence, towards the end of Archbishop Coggan's tenure, the Primates' Meeting came into existence.

Questions about the various Anglican understandings of primacy have naturally flowed from these developments while at the same time the closure of institutions like St Augustine's College Canterbury has deprived the Communion of the kind of international centres of biblical, historical and theological study that help to embed debates in a shared context of friendship and prayer.

At the end of the 2008 Conference it is to be hoped that we shall be able to commit ourselves to the Covenant Process which is under weigh but also to establishing a big agenda for the Communion.

This should certainly reflect the urgency of making progress with the Millennium Development Goals in the immediate future but should not be exhausted by eight goals themselves.

If one cares passionately about the world and the alleviation of poverty without any relationship with God then the result is too often burn out and despair.

The Communion's big agenda must flow from the love of God and not omit the god-ward axis in Micah's challenge to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.

At the same time we should not underestimate the significance of developing our institutional life.

At a time when the hegemony of the Western World is giving way to a multi-polar world in which the cultures of Asia and Africa will rightly have an increasing voice it is time to develop our arrangements for conversation, cooperation and mutual accountability.

We should draw on the history and the thought of the whole Christian church in attempting to discern the fundamental principles which have shaped the Anglican engagement with God and neighbour thus far.

In this task we cannot do without the bishops who are not at this conference. Their absence is a real loss.

Processing to the Palace

Yesterday the bishops left Canterbury and came to town.


Thursday, 24 July, was London day, when everyone met for lunch at Lambeth Palace and took tea with the Queen at a Buckingham Palace garden party. There was also an optional “walk of witness” led by Dr Williams to support the Millennium Development Goals.


Bishops march for poverty action

Hundreds of bishops from across the world are to join a procession through central London calling for urgent action to tackle global poverty.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams will lead the walk from parliament to Lambeth Palace.

At a rally he will call on governments to fulfil their promises on aid and development or see the world's poor suffer disease starvation and death.

He will say there is a "genuine opportunity" to end extreme poverty.

But the archbishop will warn that most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by world leaders in 2000 to halve poverty by 2015, will not, be fulfilled by then, and risk never being achieved at all.

He will be joined in his plea to governments to honour their promises on aid by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The march followed by the rally at Lambeth Palace, the home of the archbishop of Canterbury, is being organised during the Lambeth Conference.

"If governments' fail it will lead to further starvation, disease and death," the archbishop will say.

The event will be attended by up to 1,500 faith leaders, diplomats, politicians, heads of charities and other groups.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster; Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks; Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBE and Dr Indarjit Singh OBE will be among those joining in the march.

The UN meets on 25 September when there will be a review of progress towards the MDGs.

The MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/Aids and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015.

The archbishop calls the Lambeth Conference once every 10 years to bring churches in the Anglican Communion together.

The Absentees

The large group of bishops who have declined the archbishop's invitation to LAMBETH 2008 are not silent. Though absent their's is a significant voice in the debate going on about the future of the Anglican Communion. I guess that many who are at Canterbury would be absent from the conference for an hour last evening and near a tv set where they could watch 'Battle of the Bishops'.


Battle of the bishops
The future of the Church of England, and its sister churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion, depends on who wins an unprecedented struggle for power.

Battle of the Bishops
Monday, 21 July, 2008
1900 BST on BBC Two

This World reveals the story of the man and the movement that seeks to challenge the Archbishop of Canterbury as the focus of the worldwide Anglican Church, in order to restore family values in a church that will have no place for openly homosexual clergy.

Reporter Ben Anderson is given unique access to Archbishop Peter Akinola - leader of the Anglican Church in Nigeria - as he and his followers prepare for an unprecedented summit in Jerusalem that aims to unite disaffected conservatives across the Anglican world.

Many of the headlines regarding the Church of England since 2002 have regarded the rights of homosexual priests. The Church of England allows for the ordination of gay priests as long as they are celibate.

Alongside issues of homosexual clergy, the wider Anglican Communion has been wrestling with whether to sanction same-sex blessings.

These issues have caused divisions within the Anglican Communion, with the provinces of the global south (Nigeria, South East Asia, South America among many others) threatening to split permanently from those sanctioning the blessing of same-sex relationships and the ordination of non-celibate gay clergy.

This World will be broadcast on Monday 21 July at 1900 BST on BBC Two.
Filmed and directed by Nick ReadExecutive producers: Lucy Hetherington, Nick Stuart and Tracey Gardiner

Response to latest draft of proposed 'Anglican Covenant'

The GAFCON grouping have forwarded to Lambeth their response to the latest draft of the proposed 'Anglican Covenant'. It is a resounding rejection of it as an inadequate instrument for unity. It concludes:

"Given the profound and fatal difficulties identified in the draft covenant, the legal framework of the appendix will likewise be open to overwhelming objection. The proposed legal framework in any event exhibits the same flaws as the parent document, notably in the way unity is abstracted from biblical faithfulness and no account is taken of the possibility that the instruments of Communion themselves might be the focus of objection.

Two other objections must be mentioned.
First, the document describes four instruments of Communion, which it proposes will provide solutions to disputes. It fails to recognise the disproportionate influence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who invites to the Lambeth Conference, chairs the ACC and calls the Primates’ Meeting. The problem of this undue influence is compounded by the lack of formal accountability on the part of the Archbishop and the prominence the document envisages for this Primate is frankly colonialist.
Secondly, the prominence given to the Joint Standing Committee of the ACC and Primates raises problems in increasing further the ability of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the ACC to exercise disproportionate influence over the Primates, thereby tending in effect to silence dissentient primatial voices.

In the light of these considerations we find that the St Andrews Draft of An Anglican Covenant does not meet our expectations or hopes for restoring the broken sacrament of Communion.

Indaba Groups

Daily Programme for Bishops at Lambeth Conference

Monday July 21, 2008
Bishops - Celebrating Common Ground
Celebrating Common Ground: the bishop and Anglican Identity

06:30Morning Prayer with the Chaplaincy Team
07:15Morning Worship – Eucharist Korea Exodus 3:7-15 John 6:15-24
08:15Breakfast
09:15Bible Study Groups John 6:15-24 I am, do not be afraid
10:30Tea
11:00Indaba Groups : Celebrating Common Ground: the bishop & Anglican identity [part one]
13:00Lunch
14:00Time allocated for Provincial Meetings as required
15:30Afternoon tea
16:00Indaba Groups : Celebrating Common Ground: the bishop & Anglican identity [part one]
17:45Evening worship
19:00Evening Meal
20:15Plenary Session - Brian McLaren
21:45Night Prayer

Indaba - The term comes from a Zulu language word, meaning “business” or “matter”.

Current usage
The term has found widespread use throughout Southern Africa and often simply means gathering or meeting.

It is also used in the scout movement. The World Scout Indaba is a gathering of Scout Leaders.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, used the expression when he announced, in in April 2008, a move away from plenary meetings voting on formal resolutions for bishops attending the 2008 Lambeth Conference. He introduced “middle sized groups for discussion of larger issues”, saying:-
“We have given these the African name of indaba groups, groups where in traditional African culture, people get together to sort out the problems that affect them all, where everyone has a voice and where there is an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that everyone is able to tell when they go away from it. This is how we approached it. This is what we heard. This is where we arrived as we prayed and thought and talked together.”

More on Indaba and Lambeth planning:
The Primate of Cape Town, the Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, proposed to the Lambeth Design Group (LDG) and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the concept of Indaba, which was readily adopted by the Archbishop Williams and will form the way the bishops will work together during their time in Canterbury.

Indaba is a Zulu word for a gathering for purposeful discussion and is both a process and method of engagement, and offers a way of listening to one another concerning challenges that face the Anglican Communion.

Each Indaba group will nominate one of their group whom they believe to be most capable of carrying their views and the fruit of their discussion into the reflections process. Their ‘Listener’ joins a Listening Group under the chairmanship of Archbishop Roger Herft of Perth, in Western Australia.

Canon Kearon states, “Working with the summaries of the fruit of Indaba arising from each group, it will be their duty to generate a common text which reflects authentically the Indaba.” The text must reflect the mind of the bishops attending the 2008 Conference.

The intention is that the Listening Group will meet in four open sessions. Here all bishops can comment on the developing text. It is envisaged that in this way every bishop attending the conference will be given the opportunity to “shape the Reflections” from what emerges.

The letter concludes, “The hope of the Lambeth Design Group is that this process will permit the development of a Reflections Document which will meet the objectives set out for it, and be available on the last day of the conference to be received as an authentic account of the engagement of the bishops together in the service of Christ.”

Lambeth Spouses

Lambeth Daily
Book Launch of 'Marriage, Mitres and Myself’ by Jane Williams

Jane Williams launched the book ‘Marriage, Mitres and Myself’ on Thursday 17 July at the Lambeth Conference. The Sports Hall, which has been transformed into the Spouses Venue, was filled with the members of the Spouses Conference and their spouses – the Bishops!

The book published by SPCK contains pieces from Bishops’ Spouses from around the world concerning what it is like to be married to a Bishop. Jane Williams explained that she had e-mailed all the Bishops’ Spouses to ask them to write something for her and many had responded. So, she said she hadn’t really written it but had simply drawn together all the material.

Reading extracts from the book Jane Williams told those present that this book was a celebration of all that the spouses do in their varied situations. Some run education and health care programmes and all offer hospitality to the many people who visit their homes.

The launch, sponsored by SPCK, offered refreshments and Divine Fairtrade Chocolate and Joanna Moriarty, from SPCK, said that the book was a best seller and had been reprinted twice. SPCK gave a copy of the book to all the spouses and queues gathered around the hall for their copy to be signed by Jane Williams and to have their photograph taken with her.


Marriage, Mitres and Being Myself
Jane Williams
SPCK £7.99 (978-0-281-06018-4)
Church Times Bookshop £7.20

ANYBODY who wants to know why the Lambeth Conference is necessary for the health of the Anglican Communion should read this little book.

Jane Williams, finding herself expected to mastermind the spouses’ conference that runs alongside the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in July, asked fellow bishops’ spouses to write about their lives. This is a collection of those contributions, linked by reflections from Jane Williams herself.

She says in the final chapter: “Christian ministry is incarnational. It matters that it is done by particular people in particular situations . . . there is really no alternative to meeting and talking and praying together.” So here are the stories of 21 particular spouses (mostly wives, though there are two Australian husbands) in particular situations, reporting on how they became Christians, the difference their spouses’ election has made to their lives and their families, and to their own faith journeys.

Not surprisingly, many of the issues raised are common to other spouses, especially other clergy spouses — public perceptions and expectations; tensions between their working lives and their roles as spouse, father being often absent at important family occasions or crises; the vagueness of boundaries between public and private life in a church-owned house.

Many find their position forces them to examine their own faith, and it is moving and encouraging to read their testimonies — “In faith, I try to balance all my roles, including being a bishop’s spouse, and I trust that that will put me where God wants me to be” (US). “Strangely enough, by the grace of God, I have found I can stretch myself to do more than I imagined” (UK). An African wife describes praying with her husband: “The strength received from these short devotions seems to equip the Bishop’s wife with a fortitude I am still yet to understand!”

The stories from areas in which Christianity is a minority religion, where the Christian community is sometimes under attack, and where the bishop’s job can bring him and his family into physical danger, are particularly striking to British readers, and lead Jane Williams to reflect on the roots of Christianity as a minority religion. It is not, she says, “in its heart, well designed for the ruling classes, with its subversive critique of power or its preaching of the God incarnate and crucified. . . Those of us who are able to live comfortable Christian lives have a lot to learn from our sisters in Pakistan, Taiwan and Myanmar.”

Those who have ambivalent attitudes to Lambeth have also much to learn from their Christian counterparts in Africa and Asia. As Jane Williams says: “It is not a luxury for Christian leaders to meet together. It is a simple necessity.” Amen to that.

Sarah Stancliffe is married to the Bishop of Salisbury.

Lambeth 2008

(Lambeth 2008 begins today. Here is my article about it from St Martin magazine.)

The first Lambeth Conference was held in 1867 at Lambeth Palace. It takes place approximately every 10 years. The Archbishop has invited 800+ bishops and their spouses to this summer's conference between 16th July and 4th August. The main venue will be the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Each conference is different although there is continuity from decade to decade. They tend to pass resolutions on the governance of the church, its ministry and liturgy and its engagement with the world. There is plenty of time for worship and prayer, bible study, mutual support and encouragement. There is a market place with stalls to inform, lobby and provide merchandise.

At the 2008 Conference a particular focus will be on equipping the bishop as enabler and encourager of God's people in their purpose and mission. It will look at particular tasks of leadership in the church.

A separate spouses' conference will be held on 'Equipping the Whole People of God for God's Mission'.

The Conference is one of the 'instruments of communion' which means that it is one of the ways in which the churches of the Anglican Communion relate to one another and are held together.

Before, and after, the conference bishops will experience the hospitality of dioceses throughout the Church of England and there should be opportunity to meet, and listen to, those who travel to York.

There is a 'Lambeth 2008 Prayer':

Pour down upon us, O God, the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that those who prepare for the Lambeth Conference may be filled with wisdom and understanding.

May they know at work within them that creative energy and vision which belong to our humanity, made in your image and redeemed by your love.

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

What is the Lambeth Conference?

About 650 senior members of the Anglican clergy from around the world are gathering in Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference.

The conference is pivotal in helping unify the largest Protestant Church grouping in the world, but this year it comes at a time of rifts over key issues affecting the Anglican Communion.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE?

The conference is the only meeting of all the archbishops and bishops of the Anglican Communion - the family of Churches around the world.

The Archbishop of Canterbury calls the conference once every 10 years to bring those Churches together.

Senior members of the clergy worship and study together during the conference and it provides a forum for debate on key issues affecting the Anglican Communion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, says on the conference's website: "The chief aims of our time together are, first, that we become more confident in our Anglican identity, by deepening our awareness of how we are responsible to and for each other; and second, that we grow in energy and enthusiasms for our task of leading the work of mission in our Church."

But about 200 bishops have declined his invitation to the conference.
Delegates do not have to say why they have declined their invitations.
But some plan to boycott the meeting because they have been angered by what they see as the Bible's teaching on homosexuality being ignored.

WHERE DOES THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE GET ITS NAME?

The conference gets its name from Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury's residence in London, where the conference used to be held.

It first took place there in 1867 and was attended by just 76 bishops. This year's conference, at the University of Kent, is the 14th. It is not open to the public.

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THE DELEGATES FROM?

Archbishops and bishops from 160 countries will be attending the conference, but no delegates from Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda are coming.

Senior bishops and archbishops from Churches within the Anglican Communion are joined by bishops from other Churches "in communion" with the Anglican Communion such as the Churches of Bangladesh, North and South India, and Pakistan.

A number of ecumenical guests are also invited. It is up to the archbishop whom he invites.
Spouses of the bishops who attend are invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury's wife to a spouses' conference.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES THAT WILL DOMINATE?

This year's conference will attempt to begin to heal the rifts within the Anglican Communion over contentious issues, including women bishops and the sexuality of the clergy.

Ahead of the conference, a coalition of Anglican traditionalists challenged the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. At a meeting in Jerusalem, the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) vowed to combat modern trends in the Church, including the ordination of gay members of the clergy.

The decision of the Church of England's General Synod earlier this month to ordain women bishops also sparked fury among some members of the clergy.

So sexuality and gender of clergy are likely to be among the topics that dominate debate during the 20-day conference.

Gay clergy

Anglicans differ on how they believe the Bible should be interpreted, for example, whether it should be read as classing active homosexuality as a sin.

A number of bishops from around the world intend to boycott the Lambeth Conference in protest at the presence of others who support the ordination of gay members of the clergy.
This comes after a total of 250 bishops attended the rival Gafcon meeting in Jerusalem.
Here they vowed to set up a council of bishops to restore order within the worldwide Anglican Church.

The rift has been widening since the ordination of the gay Bishop of New Hampshire, the Right Reverend Gene Robinson, in 2003.

Women bishops

The role of the bishops' leadership in the Church is tabled as a key topic for this year's conference.

But the role of women bishops in particular is likely to be a contentious issue after the General Synod vote.

Some 1,300 clergy had threatened to leave the Church of England if their concessions were not met.

While safeguards to traditionalists were not offered in the vote, it was agreed a code of practice would be drawn up. The first consecration of a woman bishop is years away.

The Roman Catholic Church, which does not ordain women, has already warned the Church of England that this decision on women bishops will hamper relations between the churches.

Conversion of other faiths

There is a range of views as to what extent Anglican Churches should seek to convert other faiths.

The Church in Africa is experiencing huge growth - in Muslim countries among others.

Some believe there is a Biblical mandate to go out and convert other faiths, while other more liberal wings of the Church do not feel this is as necessary.

On the agenda at the conference are topics on evangelism and how to engage in a multi-faith world so these are likely to provide opportunity to discuss the issue.

CAN THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE UNITE THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION?

The conference will conclude with attempts to get the delegates from Churches across the world to sign up to a covenant calling for an agreement on central beliefs - including an end to the ordination of gay bishops and same sex blessings in church - and discipline in following them.

But this would be unacceptable to the American Church, and liberals elsewhere in the Communion, including the Church of England.

GAFCON update

THE ORGANISERS of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in the Holy Land have changed their plans, in response to objections by the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Revd Suheil Dawani.

Bishop Dawani had complained about lack of consultation and insensitivity when it was announced in November that the conference, widely seen as an alternative to the Lambeth Conference, would take place in Jerusalem in June.

This week, the GAFCON organisers released the news that the conference would be in two parts. The first, “a consultation for church leaders”, would take place in Jordan from 18-22 June; the second, described as “a pilgrimage to Jerusalem”, would begin on 22 June and last until 29 June.

The GAFCON website describes the two events as follows: “An important consultation in Jordan from 18-22 June will include the conference leadership, theological resource group, those bishops serving in majority Islamic settings, and other key leaders. The Jerusalem pilgrimage will focus on worship, prayer, discussions and Bible Study, shaped by the context of the Holy Land.” The pilgrimage is open to “bishops and their wives, key clergy and laity”.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, is quoted as saying: “We are very grateful for the feedback that we have received on the many complex issues that confront us.”

By removing the business section of the conference — at which conservative Anglicans are expected to discuss plans to distance themselves further from the Anglican mainstream — from Jerusalem to Jordan, the organisers believe they have met Bishop Dawani’s objections about bringing dissension into an already divided region.

What is still not clear, though, is the nature of the Jerusalem pilgrimage. Details on the website remain sketchy, but the week appears to be more in the style of a convention than a journey, though it will include visits to holy sites. The programme is said to include “meetings for bishops only”, and there will be a keynote speech on the final day, Sunday 29 June.

Alternative Lambeth

THE BISHOPS of Rochester and Lewes have joined a coalition of conservative archbishops and bishops, including those of Nigeria, Sydney, and the Southern Cone, who will mount a meeting, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) 2008, in the run-up to the Lambeth Conference.

The event will take place in the Holy Land from 15 to 22 June, it was announced last week. Canon Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream is a key player, along with the Rt Revd Martyn Minns, a Bishop in the conservative Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), whom the Archbishop of Canterbury has not invited to Lambeth. The Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt Revd Bob Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, is also involved.
Five of the Primates are African: Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The coalition, or their representatives, met in Nairobi before Christmas, although the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, and the Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Revd Wallace Benn, were consulted by phone.
In a press release issued on Boxing Day, Canon Sugden said: “While this conference is not a specific challenge to the Lambeth Conference, it will provide opportunities for fellowship and care for those who have decided not to attend Lambeth.”

In the words of the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, the conference is for “biblical Anglican Christians”. Those invited will be “bishops and their wives, senior clergy, church planters and lay people, including the next generation of young leaders”, says the GAFCON press release.

It says that the coalition leaders represent 30 million Anglicans worldwide: “The notional total of the Communion is 77 million. The active membership is nearer 55 million, since, of the 26 million notional members in C of E, 3.7 million attend Christmas services.”

The statement concedes that the initiative is “not quite” of the Global South. There are firm denials that the conference is “all over a gay bishop”, or that it will split the Church. The organisers insist: “The pilgrimage is to strengthen bishops at a crucial time in the Anglican Communion. Many bishops will not be able to accept the invitation to the Lambeth Conference as their consciences will not allow it. Some will attend both gatherings.”

The choice of the Holy Land as a venue is because: “It is a pilgrimage to the places of the Biblical story to renew our faith and commitment. It is to envision the Global Anglican Future. The Lambeth Conference has a different agenda.”

A storm is brewing over the apparent lack of consultation with conservative Anglican leaders in South East Asia and other parts of the Global South. Dr Michael Poon, convener of the Global South Anglican (GSA) theological formation and education task force, and director of the Centre of the Study of Christianity in Asia, expressed himself “saddened and shocked” by the GAFCON statement.

In a response on the GSA website, he reminded the Primates that the Global South represented a broad spectrum of Anglican churches, and “does not answer to the dictates of the radical Evangelical wing within the Communion”. He suggested it would be helpful if “the Primates and bishops are able to have their statement ratified through due process by their provincial/national/ diocesan Synods.”

Dr Poon cited as “glaring omissions” Asia, the West Indies, and the Middle East: “In their place, we find names of colleagues (with due respect) from a particular strand in the Northern churches.”

Dr Jensen wrote to Anglicans in Sydney after the statement was issued, telling them that the meeting was to be “a moving on together of those who wish to retain biblical standards especially in the area of sexual ethics”.

Dr Poon also wrote to Dr Jensen, seeking detailed clarification on several “crucial points” of theology. It was a warm letter, supportive of the “upholding of orthodoxy”, and expressing a desire to work together for the good of the Communion. It attempted to pin Dr Jensen down on the exact interpretation in his statement of expressions such as “biblical standards”.

It asked whether Dr Jensen intended to support the processes that were part of Lambeth 2008, such as the Covenant. It continued: “Do you think the ‘orthodox’ Anglicans on their own can carry the Communion forward without the blessing of Canterbury?”

Dr Poon revealed on Monday that, after what he considered to be his “mere comments” on the Global South website, he had received a confidential email from “an esteemed primate. . . The metadata of his Word document reveals that it was in fact drafted by another person — by an equally esteemed new bishop in America.”

The implication is that the email was mainly written by Bishop Minns, in a similar way to the letter purportedly from Archbishop Akinola to Nigerian synods in the summer (News, 24 August). The earlier document turned out to have been substantially altered by Bishop Minns.
In the most recent email, the unnamed Primate berated Dr Poon: “How could you possibly believe it to be God’s will to make such a public scandal against your brethren without first consulting with us? Common courtesy and politeness alone would have insisted on that and the scripture clearly teaches us to exhaust private attempts at reconciliation before doing something public.

“You assume authority and superiority (neither of which are yours to assume) and assault not only the entire enterprise but the integrity of those involved. . .
“Please seek God over this and recognise the great wrong you have done to those who trusted you and never imagined you might behave in this way.”

Dr Poon’s revelations about this letter of rebuke were rapidly removed from the GSA website on Monday.

The Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Revd Suheil Dawani, issued a statement on Wednesday, expressing his regret that he had not been consulted over the conference to be held in his diocese: “We Anglicans who minister here have been left out in the cold.”

He described himself as “deeply troubled” that the conference “will import inter-Anglican conflict into our diocese”. He also feared for the Church’s wider work of reconciliation. “Indeed, it could further inflame tensions here. We who minister here know only too well what happens when two sides cease talking to each other. We do not want to see any further dividing walls!”
While all this has reinforced unease among moderate Evangelicals that the Communion debate is being hijacked by conservatives, other issues around GAFCON were also surfacing this week. The Jerusalem Post said that Anglican and Jewish supporters of the gathering hoped that “the presence of conservative Anglican bishops from every continent will present an opportunity to broaden Israel’s support in the developing world.”

A news story written by the Revd George Conger, an Anglican from Florida, states: “The rising African voice in the Anglican Communion. . . has witnessed a challenge to the anti-Israeli agenda of many European-led Christian groups.”

Disunity here at home

It seems that there are growing tensions not only in the Anglican Communion but here at home in the Church of England re the next Lambeth Conference:

Bishops threaten to boycott Lambeth Conference
Ruth Gledhill

Six out of ten senior Church of England bishops could boycott next year’s Lambeth Conference of more than 800 Anglican bishops and archbishops from around the world because of the row over gays.

Such a boycott would be unprecedented in the history of the Anglican Church and would be an indication of how deep the divisions go, in England as well as in the rest of the communion.

The fifth most senior bishop in the mother church of the Anglican Communion warns today that a majority of English diocesan bishops could consider a boycott if the US does not row back on its pro-gay agenda.

A UK boycott would confirm the gravity of the splits within even the Church of England, traditionally the model for Anglicanism’s “via media”. It would effectively spell the end of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s dream of maintaining unity.

The Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, was speaking to tomorrow's Church of Ireland Gazette, the journal of the Anglican Church in Ireland.

He tells the Gazette that as many as six in ten diocesan bishops, from the Church’s evangelical and Anglican-Catholic wings, would be “constrained” in their protest by their loyalty to Dr Rowan Williams. Speaking to The Times he said later, "The point I was making was that they are having to think about it".

Dr Williams is currently on study leave but earlier this week the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, pleaded with archbishops and bishops from the Global South group of churches not to boycott the ten-yearly gathering, due to take place at Kent University next July.

Dr Williams issued his invitations to Lambeth earlier this year, leaving off eight bishops, including the openly gay Gene Robinson, whose consecration in 2003 sparked the current controversy. The Times has learned that Bishop Robinson is however to be invited as a guest in a non-voting capacity. The deadline for bishops to respond to the invitations is the end of July, next Tuesday.

Bishop Scott-Joynt says in the Gazette that for a boycott not to take place, the bishops of The Episcopal Church must meet the demands of the recent Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam.
In their communique, the Primates gave the US bishops until September 30 to agree to “make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions” and “confirm that... a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion.”

The Primates warned that “if the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion.”

Dr Williams will himself be attending the September meeting in the US as one of his first duties on returning from study leave. At an initial meeting in March, the US bishops rejected the Primates’ demands.

Bishop Scott-Joynt warns in the Gazette that if the bishops of The Episcopal Church do not meet the demands of the Dar es Salaam Primates’ Meeting by the 30 September deadline, and if the bishops of the Global South decline to attend next year’s Lambeth Conference, six in ten English bishops could stay away.

At a meeting in London last week, Global South leaders warned that they would be unable to take part in the Lambeth Conference without “discipline” and “reconciliation” in the Communion.

They said in a statement: “To be present but unable to participate in sacramental fellowship would all the more painfully demonstrate our brokenness.”

Several of the bishops who have not been invited have been consecrated by Global South leaders to serve traditionalist parishes in the US.

The Global South leaders said: “The polarization surrounding the Lambeth meeting has been exacerbated because we are also unable to take part in an event from which a number of our own bishops have been arbitrarily excluded while those whose actions have precipitated our current crisis are included.”

Alternative Lambeth

This blog news item picks up the earlier blogs from the Primates meeting in Africa:


"CONSERVATIVES are planning an alternative meeting in the UK at the same time as the 2008 Lambeth Conference, it emerged this week.

The diocese of Sydney’s standing committee agreed on Monday that the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, and his five regional bishops should attend the Lambeth Conference next year. Yet members were exercised by the invitation to bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States who “agreed to or participated in” the consecration of the Rt Revd Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, a gay man living with a partner.

The resolution advises Dr Jensen and the bishops not to accept the invitation “without making public in protest, speech and liturgical action, both prior and at Lambeth, our diocese’s principled objections to the continued participation of those whose actions have expressed a departure from the clear teaching of scripture and who have consequently excluded orthodox Anglicans from their fellowship.”

The resolution goes on to request that Dr Jensen approach “other orthodox bishops of the Communion with the purpose of meeting in England at the time of the Lambeth Conference for Christian fellowship and the planning of joint action within the Communion to contend the faith of the Apostles once delivered to the saints”.

The idea is now being put to other conservative bishops in the Anglican Communion including those who have already refused or who have not been invited to Lambeth." (Church Times Today)

Bishop Martyn Minns, a member of the Nigerian-based conservative group in the US, was one of a number who would be approached. Bishops and archbishops in the Global South would also be contacted.

“Sydney has tended to be on the edge of the Global South grouping, but this does not rule out contacting all the leaders. But this is a situation that is evolving. Nothing definite has been arranged, and no alternative venue has been booked.”

Watch this space! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!