Doing the Lambeth Walk Part 3: Wednesday 23 July
Indaba Groups
One of the key elements of this year's Lambeth Conference is, of course the Indaba groups. The way it works is this: We all meet in small Bible Study groups of around eight people after Breakfast each morning, to study the ‘I ams' of St John's Gospel. This is proving a most productive experience. Perhaps bishops do not get the opportunity often enough to have fellowship in Bible Study groups!
Then, after coffee, five of the Bible Study groups come together to make up one Indaba group. Indaba is, we are told, a Zulu word for a gathering for purposeful discussion, used often when there is a difficult issue to be faced. ‘It is' says the opening section introducing the concept, ‘both a process and method of engagement as we listen to one another concerning challenges that face our community and by extension the Anglican Communion'. It appears that part of the genius of Indaba is being aware of the issues without trying to resolve them immediately: certainly a very Anglican way! There are to be no hidden agendas, we are to think in terms of ‘both-and', rather than ‘either-or', and to trust our leadership. So far, so good, and the little tasks we have been asked to do on ‘The Bishop and Anglican Identity' and ‘The Bishop and Evangelism' have been relatively enjoyable - the kind of things you would do at a Youth Fellowship Weekend - but I share a growing uncertainty about where the process is going. The next stage, apparently, is to elect a ‘listener' to gather the ideas and take them to the next level, and then there will be various 'hearings', but no resolutions.
Evenings in the Big Top
Meanwhile, the last two evenings in the large blue ‘Big Top' have provided great opportunities to hear excellent speakers. On Monday night, we were privileged to hear Brian McLaren, a guru of the Emerging Church movement. He spoke passionately about the task of the church living in a world which embraces three philosophical ‘eras': the pre-modern, the modern, and what is emerging (sometimes called postmodern). Many people who are distanced from the church ‘have not rejected the Christian message: it hasn't been presented to them in their own ‘language''. The church, he believes, needs a season of learning and unlearning.
Tuesday night was an opportunity to hear Cardinal Ivan Dias, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome. It is a real sign of the importance placed on Lambeth by the Roman Catholic Church, that three cardinals are to be present during the conference. Cardinal Dias was excellent, beginning his address with the motto of my old theological college; ‘Woe unto me if I do not preach the Gospel'. I must confess my heart leapt at his unafraid proclamation that salvation was to be found only in Jesus Christ. That was followed by a critique of societies which ‘seek to efface the supernatural, and supplant it with mundane patterns which ignore the transcendent...', and which embrace abortion on demand, moral aberrations and social injustice. He pleaded with us as bishops to focus on restoring family life, and supporting young people. And he ended with a plea for us to work together as Christians: ‘If Christians do not hang together, they will hang separately'.
Statement from the Sudanese Bishops
Another interesting, and perhaps unexpected, development, today, has been a statement by the Episcopal Church of the Sudan making absolutely clear where they stand in relation to developments in the Episcopal Church in the USA and Canada. Part of it reads as follows:
‘Out of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we appeal to the Anglican Church in the USA and Canada, to demonstrate real commitment to the requests arising from the Windsor process. In particular:
To refrain from ordaining practicing homosexuals as bishops and priests
To refrain from approving rites of blessing for same-sex relationships
To cease court actions with immediate effect
To comply with Resolution 1:10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference
To respect the authority of the Bible.
I gather the new Archbishop gave a press conference on this statement on Tuesday, and it will probably come as a shock to the churches to which it is directed. I hope it will not lead to any funding being withdrawn. It is a sign that many of the Africans who have decided to come to Lambeth are every bit as firm in their resolution as those who have not attended.
And the rabbits....
I don't think any of us have ever seen quite so many rabbits as we find in the fields around the campus at the University of Kent at Canterbury. They remind me of the old children's chorus which might make a good theme song:
....All the little rabbits in the fields of corn -
Envy, jealousy, malice and pride,
They must never in my heart abide.
Another day's work, then off to London to see the Queen
+Harold
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Photographs: ' © Lambeth Conference '