Dear People of Annunciation,
The past three weeks have been a time of rest and renewal, but it is good to be home again! During my time away, the General Convention met, which was the subject of my last article in the Annunciator. This week, bishops across the Anglican Communion are gathered on the campus of the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, for the Fifteenth Lambeth Conference. (My understanding is that Bishop Smith is not attending due to health issues. Because there have been several COVID-related delays to bishop’s ordinations, I understand that the Archbishop of Canterbury has taken the unusual step of inviting bishops-elect who have received the necessary consents for ordination, though I have not heard whether Bishop-elect Scharf is attending or not.)
During my ride on the AutoTrain back south on Monday evening, I wrote an article about the meeting and some of the headlines it generated in the days leading up to it. As of Thursday afternoon, my original draft is already very out-of-date.
What is the Lambeth Conference? It is a meeting of the active bishops of the Anglican Communion. The first such meeting was held in 1867 at Lambeth Palace in London, the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, just across the River Thames from the Palace of Westminster, where the UK Parliament meets. The size of the meeting is such that it has needed larger spaces since the 1978 gathering.
It is helpful to remember that Anglicanism on a global scale is deeply connected with the legacy of the British Empire. For example, the oldest parishes of the Episcopal Church were started by English missionaries who accompanied colonists to the New World. Prior to the establishment of the Episcopal Church, all church work in the American colonies was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. In those days, the bishops were all English. They all knew each other, often dating back to their days of theological study at Oxford. By the mid-19th Century, this was no longer the case. Episcopalians in Scotland and the United States had structures firmly separate from the Church of England. Our clergy were now usually trained at American seminaries such as General or Virginia. Anglicanism grew into a global affair where most bishops are the products of their native lands, not missionaries from England. The Lambeth Conference was established as a forum to build relationships between the bishops of the Communion on a global level. It became one of the four “Instruments of Communion” that bind us together on an international basis.
It is also important to know what the Lambeth Conference is not. This meeting is not one intended to replicate the universal governance structures one sees in the Roman Catholic tradition. While there are moments in which we may desire clearer organization and direction on a global basis, it is simply not how we are designed to operate. While Lambeth is a great forum for building relationships and creating a voice for a global church, the highest governing body of the Episcopal Church remains our General Convention. While the work of Lambeth can often be persuasive in our own church’s deliberations, it does not have the authority to modify or nullify the work of our General Convention.
The conference itself has taken various shapes through the years. At times it has been structured like a legislative body. Other times it has taken the form of guided conversations. There are times of worship, bible study, and presentations.
Like any large gathering of people from across cultures, there will be differences of opinion on any number of matters. In recent decades, the role of women in ordained leadership has been a substantial topic. While there remain a few holdout provinces, the acceptance of women at all orders of ministry is increasingly the norm throughout the Communion. Women will comprise a small minority of the bishops in attendance, but there will be far more than in previous gatherings.
What has generated the most headlines in recent days is the topic of human sexuality. In 1998 (where the conference took on the structure of a legislative meeting), a resolution was passed calling same-gender relationships and the ordination of LGBTQ persons in relationships as incompatible with Anglican practice. As we are quite aware, this resolution was not accepted by the Episcopal Church and several other member churches in the subsequent years. The 2008 had no resolutions as a result. The next meeting, which would have taken place in 2018, was delayed to 2020 to continue to allow passions on this matter to further calm down. Because the COVID outbreak occurred a few months before the meeting was to take place, it was further delayed to this summer. (The last time a Lambeth Conference was delayed beyond a 10-year interval was the result of World War II in the 1930s and 40s.)
The theme of this year’s conference is “God’s Church for God’s World.” It is expected to focus on the subjects of mission and evangelism, safe church, Anglican identity, reconciliation, human dignity, Christian unity and interfaith relations, and discipleship. At the eleventh hour, it was announced that the topic of human sexuality would be part of the agenda and electronic devices would be given to bishops who could vote. The outcry over this poorly handled release of information resulted in a few modifications to the documents and voting procedures. The result seems to be a document that honestly describes the reality that the Anglican Communion is not of one mind on the matter. It seems there is a recognition that the Lambeth Conference cannot demand conformity or compliance on this matter.
As of the current moment, I do not know what will ultimately be issued from Lambeth. Please keep the bishops of our churches in prayer over the coming days. Regardless of the outcomes, the Church of the Annunciation is a parish established in accordance with the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church. We will continue to operate in that way. We will continue to be a hopeful, joyful, welcoming community for all. May the Holy Spirit enlighten the hearts of our bishops as they gather in Canterbury for the Fifteenth Lambeth Conference in the coming days.
With thanksgiving for your partnership in the Gospel,
Matthew+
