Doing the Lambeth Walk Part 9
Sunday 2 August
Reaching the end!
The 2008 Lambeth Conference has just finished. It finished with a Eucharist in Canterbury Cathedral at 6pm tonight (Sunday), and the presence of the Lord was powerful. What an amazing difference in every way from the opening Eucharist two weeks ago. I'm still trying to work out what God has done, and it will take some reflection.
To be honest this Lambeth has been two and a half of the hardest weeks of my life. The atmosphere has been oppressive, the worship generally dry, and the sense of mistrust palpable. And all of that has been added to by the sense of everything being carefully ‘managed'. Well, I suppose if two people are ready to go for each other, it's better to manage their meeting, in case it all falls apart! The other factor is that there have been very, very few gaps in the programme, and we are all mightily exhausted. But there have been no big explosions - after all our default in Anglicanism is ‘Englishness', and even disputes are handled in a mannerly fashion!
The Lambeth Document
Today, the document ‘Lambeth Indaba: Capturing Conversations and Reflections from the Lambeth Conference 2008' was published. This is a gathering of the thoughts and feelings of the conference on a wide range of issues, but generally about ‘Equipping Bishops for Mission and Strengthening Anglican Identity'. This document is not intended to carry the weight of a normal Lambeth Report with Resolutions, but rather to give a feel of our conversations. It has required a massive amount of work by a group of 14 people, including our own Alan Abernethy. They have worked their socks off. Not everyone will be pleased about all the contents of this document, but it is not intended in any way to be a definition of Anglican teaching. It is undoubtedly the kind of result the organizers were intending: not the usual clear statement of teaching, but the co-ordinated jottings of the Indaba process, brought together in a way which enables every bishop to see that they have been heard and that their voice is noted.
Today's report was supplemented by the last session in the Big Top. A couple of things about that session are very, very important indeed. First of all, two speeches made by ecumenical visitors:
Comments by the Ecumenical Participants
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (Orthodox) was simply outstanding. ‘If one member of the body suffers, all suffer', he began, referring to 1 Corinthians 12.16. ‘Your questions are our questions'. He continued by noting that there are two questions he would be asked on his return from Lambeth (I wonder will they be the same two in Down and Dromore for me?)
Did the bishops at Lambeth clearly proclaim Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world?
Did they clearly uphold Christian teaching on marriage and the family?
On the first, from the Indaba reflections, he is clear we pass the test, but on the second, he felt there was a degree of ambiguity. Have we fully affirmed Lambeth 1.10, he asked? His speech finished with a clear comment that our answers on these questions would have a decisive impact on future ecumenical dialogue with the orthodox churches, and that truth matters more than outward unity. I wanted to say ‘Amen'!
The second ecumenical speaker was Professor Ian Torrence, representing the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, who was also most helpful in his comments. He noted that some people were living with the notion that the Anglican Communion might ‘self-correct', which he said he did not believe. A quiet and reserved man, he had given himself to a great deal of listening, and said ‘I could feel the anxiety'. His speech ended with a quote from St Cyprian about bishops (great to have a Presbyterian telling us what bishops should be!), ‘The episcopate is one, each part of which is held by each bishop for the whole.' The message couldn't be clearer.
The Archbishop of Canterbury: Final Presidential Address
But it was Rowan Williams speech which sent us out with a sense that we were on the right tracks, as he affirmed four important things
The uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour
The clear fact that 1.10 remains where the communion stands (In other words it did not need to be reaffirmed. It has been clear throughout that this is our position).
The fact that it is the responsibility of those who are proposing innovations to make their case to all and persuade.
That much in the GAFCON document is consonant with what we are saying and that bridges need to be built.
I went away cheered, but not naïve! There is still a great deal of brokenness, and things can be derailed very quickly, and indeed I heard of two primates (who shall be nameless) opining, with medical analogies, that ‘the Communion is on a life support system and that it should be turned off' and of the Lambeth Conference that ‘the operation was successful but the patient is dead' (and neither was a conservative primate!). I hope they felt a little different by the end of Sunday, as I did, but with the knowledge that there is a long way to go to rebuild trust and restore relationships. Jane Williams, speaking this afternoon pleaded that we hold together because, if we split, it will take hundreds of years to regain what we have lost - if ever.
Martyrs for the Faith
At our final Eucharist in Canterbury Cathedral, the names of seven Melanesian brothers who were martyred for the faith were added to the list in the Cathedral. These are brothers who placed their tent between two warring factions, to seek reconciliation. Their symbolic and courageous action cost them their lives - a reminder of the striking fact that people in the 21st century are still prepared to sacrifice everything for the Gospel, and a good place to leave the 2008 Lambeth Conference.
Bishop Derek Eaton
And one last goodbye today was to Derek and Alice Eaton, who will be coming to us in Down and Dromore from 26-29 August. Derek will be leading the Bishop's Bible Week on each of those evenings in Willowfield Parish Church, Belfast. Amazingly, his theme from the letters of Paul to Timothy, couldn't be more suitable. It is ‘Living the Faith in Hard Times'. There will be a special welcome to those who have been reading these reports, as we seek Biblically to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ in every way in our generation.
GOODBYE FROM LAMBETH 2008!
+Harold
TO VIEW BISHOP HAROLD'S EARLIER REPORTS FROM LAMBETH GO TO THE NEWS/EVENTS PAGE (SEE TOP OF THIS PAGE). WHEN NEWS/EVENTS PAGES OPENS CLICK ON ‘OLDER NEWS ITEMS'ON THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE.Photographs (Cross and Archbishop Rowan Williams): ' © Lambeth Conference '