Lambeth Report Canterbury: Saturday, August 2nd

From www.forwardinfaith.com

FiF International News
Lambeth Conference - 15
Aug 2, 2008

"Beating About the Bush"

The Lambeth bishops today continued their discussion of the theme they took up yesterday: "The Bishop, the Anglican Covenant, and the Windsor Process".

This morning, Archbp. Aspinall reported, the discussion was focussed on the three proposals of the Windsor Continuation Group (WCG): the three moratoria, the establishment of a Pastoral Forum, and the role of the Communion's Instruments of Unity.

The archbishop said that while "widely different views" had been expressed in his own indaba group, he was impressed with "the tone in which engagement happened".

Archbishop Paul Kwong of Hong Kong said that he had found much that was good in his first Lambeth Conference, especially the opportunity to discuss views about Communion matters in the direct relation to the Bible text in the Bible studies.

Much time had been spent sharing and listening, the archbishop said. But sometimes it seemed that the Conference was "beating about the bush": he wishes that there were "more time to talk about direct actions".

Archbp. Kwong would like to see "all parties concerned" sit down, and work out some concrete resolution, perhaps aided by a "team with some diplomatic skills". He respects what people have chosen to do and will choose to do as "correct in their contexts". But he would like to see them ask, "what concessions can you make for the sake of the integrity of the Communion, for the sake of Our Lord, and for the sake of the Church?".

It would have been good, the archbishop said, if the Lambeth Conference had been able to offer suggestions about where we can go from here. "I treasure" the listening process, he concluded, but "something concrete, some action" needs to be taken.

Universal Comprehension

Bp. Charles Jenkins said that he had witnessed something of "the miracle of Pentecost" - "universal comprehension", at this Conference.

As a result of the "visionary" and "brave" leadership of Archbishop Williams, the bishop continued, "small voices from the side" are speaking and being heard. In his indaba group, all are "invited and encouraged to speak".

"Yes, there are differences", Bp. Jenkins said, but, in Rabbi Sacks' words, "we are willing to share a common fate"; and that willingness is expressed in their commitment to mission. This is, in his view, a New Testament value, and "something of a miracle".

Archbishop Williams, the bishop concluded, is "leading like a lion and teaching us about Jesus".

Concessions

Asked what sort of concessions or sacrifices he thought the sides would need to make, Archbp. Kwong said he could not speak for the parties concerned. But he did offer an illustration: the decision by the Bishop of Hong Kong and the Revd Florence Li, in the face of strong criticism of her ordination in the 1940s as the first woman priest in the Communion, that she would no longer exercise her ministry. Each Province has a right to do as it thinks best, the archbishop said: "we are not talking about rights", but about "what concession or sacrifice" it would be willing to make.

Responding to another question, the archbishop said he was not calling for plenary debates and votes. He does not have a "framework" in mind, but simply wishes there had been some opportunity at Lambeth "to work on some suggestions" that might help someone do the sort of diplomatic work the Secretary-General of the United Nations does. Bp. Jenkins commented that American bishops in his indaba group have talked about the concessions and sacrifices they might make, and so have the bishops from the Sudan - and "without selling out".

But what about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) Anglicans, the presenters were asked: where are they in this discussion? Archbp. Kwong reiterated that a person or team needed to be found, "to go around, to visit, to talk to all concerned" to see what they are willing to sacrifice. Pressed on the difference between sacrificing oneself and requiring others to sacrifice themselves, he cited a Chinese proverb to the effect that "sometimes the little `we' has to sacrifice for the big `We'".

Bp. Jenkins noted that gay people were part of these discussions, and expressed his personal commitment to "minimize the impact". The difference between voluntary action and the imposition of someone else's decision is "obvious" he said.

Most Contentious

Responding to a question, Archbp. Aspinall said that the Appendix was proving to be the "most contentious" part of the draft Covenant. It is "not setting out to be punitive": there are no sanctions. It outlines "an opt-in process", and if a Province chooses to relinquish its participation, or is judged by the ACC to have done so, an immediate process of reconciliation would begin.

The Windsor Report had recommended the "voluntary withdrawal" of TEC and ACC participants from the ACC, Archbp. Aspinall reminded the press, only through this Lambeth.

Resisting the Covenant

Asked about Bp. Mouneer Anis' assertion that the only bishops who were resisting the Covenant were the Americans, because they didn't like being told what to do, Bp. Jenkins said that none of the Americans in his indaba group was "unable to accept the idea of covenant", though, he added, "we're not necessarily going to be happy about it". In his estimation, most TEC bishops are willing the accept a Covenant "and the moratorium mentioned therein" [sic].

Bp. Jenkins responded to Archbp. Orombi's assertion that the Archbishop of Canterbury is an instrument of colonialism with a reminder that his "colony" was "primarily French; Spain was the other "major landowner". In his opinion, the archbishop's claim can't be justified. Canterbury's role in the Communion comes from our "commitment to place", for that see is "the place from which our spiritual traditions have come".

Focus on Process

For the last ten or twelve years, one questioner noted, there had been a focus on process, with constant referrals to the next meeting. "What time frame is acceptable"?", he asked.

Archbp. Aspinall said it was hard to say. Different ideas were being floated, he said, such as the creation of a Communion-wide Biblical and theological commission to move around the Provinces and hear their people, much on the model of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, over the next three years. But its report would still need to be received by the Provinces.

"Keep your walking shoes on", Bp. Jenkins opined: the Communion will be walking in the desert for quite a while. And in the end, he suggested, "the `fix' may well be adaptive".

Spouse's Group

Mrs. Margaret Sentamu, the wife of the Archbishop of York, spoke about the spouse's group, which followed the same subject matter as the bishops, but in a different way, by sharing stories and through drama.

Mrs. Sentamu mentioned a number of the stories that had been shared. One professional woman told of leaving her job and her homeland when her husband was made a bishop in another country - a ministry which often has him away for six weeks at a time. Another told how she had moved with her husband so as to exercise a ministry of reconciliation between two warring groups; her husband was arrested, and released only through the good offices of a previous Archbishop of Canterbury. "It humbles us" who enjoy the privileges of life in the global North to hear these stories, Mrs. Sentamu said.

The spouses' creation of "The Vine", Mrs. Sentamu said, illustrates their "interconnectedness". The spouses share the burdens of their spouses. And they have great opportunities, she added in response to a question: they are not just "doing things in the back room", but "getting through to the bigger platform".

The spouses' "immense diversity", Mrs. Sentamu concluded, is not "a barrier, but a blessing".

Asked about those who are not here, Mrs. Sentamu said "we are sorry that our spouses are not able to come", and said those present were sending messages that they were missed and are being prayed for.

Did she have a word of encouragement for priests' spouses? That face-to-face encounter creates "strong bonds that hold you together" - which is why Lambeth "has been a worthwhile enterprise".

The bishops' spouses "do play an important role" in the Anglican Communion, Mrs. Sentamu said in response to a final question "and they are already playing it" by modelling reconciliation and unity.

Reflections Group

Archbp. Aspinall announced that the Reflections Group would present the remainder of its report at a 5.00 pm hearing, at which copies will be made available to the press. Lambeth's final press conference, he said, will be held immediately after the tomorrow's plenary session, at about 4.30 in the afternoon.