ODDI WRTH YR ESGOB...
FROM THE BISHOP...
Bishop John writes his Ad Clerum to the clergy of the Diocese every month. You can read the text on this page.
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2nd August
Dear Friends,
I bring you greetings from Canterbury and the Lambeth Conference, which draws to a close this week. It has been an extraordinary time for me, renewing and energising and vastly different from what I expected.
When Archbishop Rowan decided that this would not be a conference using a Westminster-style system of debate and resolutions he was taking a huge risk, knowing that he would be accused by some of trying to avoid controversial decision-making. But it was a risk that paid off. By adopting the process of Indaba he intended that this should be a gathering of friends meeting for purposeful conversation, which is what the Zulu word indaba means. For me and my group of about 40 bishops, the indaba sessions proved to be open, honest, enabling and Christ-centred. The absence of rancour and the non-adversarial nature of the conversations on some of the most critical issues facing us as a communion found a biblical base in the text for this morning’s Bible study group where in John 18:11 Jesus tells Peter to put his sword back into its sheath. The presence of Christ makes us put our swords away. We are a culturally diverse group, but by voicing our vulnerabilities in the fellowship of other Christians we are able to discover deeper convergences that hold us together in our difference. And that is a cause for great joy and celebration.
With heavy press attention, there is an ever-present temptation to seek for major statements and conclusions, especially in the area of human sexuality and the future of an Anglican covenant, and there are a number who wanted that to happen. But this was a temptation we have resisted. The outcome of Lambeth 2008 is already evident in the way we have worked, prayed and worshipped together. The daily morning Bible study groups – perhaps the best of all our activities and by popular acclaim the most welcome aspect of the Conference – have been inspirational, and conversations at table (and in the long queues for almost every meal) with people from across the globe, some living in situations of severe deprivation and danger, have enabled us to share at a deep level over a sustained period of time and understand each other better. Desmond Tutu (and I think I have the quote correctly) was asked what the point of the Anglican communion was. He replied, “We meet”. That in itself may not be enough, but it’s a very good reason to have a Lambeth Conference of this style. In the words of a youth presentation, “this is a glorious, global communion”.
We shall continue working on the Covenant – and our indaba groups have aired this thoroughly - particularly in seeking clearly set-out processes of arbitration and reconciliation where serious disagreement threatens the communion or its members. The nature of the Anglican communion is relational rather than juridical and the language of reconciliation should predominate where we are in conflict.
The primates have asked for a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex partnerships, ordination of same-gender partnered bishops and incursions by bishops from one province into another, and that too has been discussed fully and frankly. While this will cause much pain and severe pastoral difficulties for some, at least there is a greater level of understanding of how the other feels.
The problem is summed up in para 112 of the final report of the Indaba groups: “The issue of homosexual relations is highly sensitive because there are strong affirmations and denials in different cultures across the world which are reflected in contrasting civil provisions, ranging from legal provision to same-sex marriage to criminal action against homosexual people. In some parts of the communion, homosexual relations are a taboo while in others they have become a human rights issue”.
At the previous Lambeth Conference in 1998 the most controversial resolution was no. 1.10 on Human Sexuality and as part of that 10-year-old commitment to listen to the experiences of gay people I attended two fringe events where these voices were heard, one where we listened to gay, bi-sexual and transgender people from Africa. I was invited to a meeting addressed by bishop Gene Robinson but did not go as the event was not a part of the Lambeth Conference, although I believe he spoke impressively and was heard gladly.
It is inevitable, perhaps, that the more controversial subjects grab the attention of the press but most of our time has been spent on matters of critical concern for God’s mission in the world. The conference began with a three-day retreat led by the Archbishop in Canterbury cathedral, and that set the tone for the rest of our time here. A walk of witness through London, which attracted much publicity, focused on the Millennium development goals in combating all that fuels poverty, and was followed by day themes of social justice, safeguarding the environment, mission, inter-faith relationships, violence against women, ecumenism, evangelism and scripture.
Such is the speed of modern communication that those with the appetite and technology can sometimes get to know more about a large conference like Lambeth than those attending it. Such information, however, is often second, third or fourth hand and coloured by the agendas of special-interest groups, but there are official websites of the conference and these are probably the best source of information. What I have offered is a personal reflection but I trust it has been helpful. I now look forward to coming home because I am missing my family, and you my friends.
With my prayers and best wishes,
+ John