kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth

Lambeth Conference - From the Bishop of Ely

The Bishop of Ely has written a report about how he feels the Lambeth Conference went. For me, it summarises very well what I’ve been reading on various blogs throughout the Conference, and is very positive. I hope it’s okay for me to publish it in full here — it was posted to a public email list, so I’m hoping that means it’s in the public domain.

There are three paragraphs I particularly want to highlight:

There can be no doubt that, as a leading article in The Times recently said, ‘the Conference has gone far better than the Archbishop or even the most optimistic Anglicans could have imagined’. It was a remarkable and in many senses unexpected success. The Press, who arrived ready to file their obituaries of the Anglican Communion, found they were writing a very different story. It is clear that through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the vision and spiritual stature of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Conference has been a considerable success, and that the Anglican Communion has made remarkable and unexpected progress.

I’m sure many of those participating were filled with trepidation about what might happen. But by working together; listening to each other; and, most importantly, listening to God; those fears were replaced by something quite amazing.

As the Conference proceeded, it was impossible not to be aware that we had the privilege of being present at a very significant occasion — an occasion at which it can truly be said that the Holy Spirit had led the Church through and around its difficulties into a new place.

God is still active today, sometimes even in the Church!

The Lambeth Conference has put new heart into the Anglican Communion, significantly raised its profile, and strengthened its internal structures. The widespread agreement of the moratoria indicates some change of direction in the thinking of many in the Communion.

I feel honoured to be a small part of the Anglican Communion. Our Bishops have been fantastic at this Lambeth Conference. I just hope and pray that the rifts, with those who felt unable to come this year, can be repaired as positively.

The full report by the Bishop of Ely follows:

Read the rest of this entry »

A Voice of Reason

With so much doom and gloom being written, in the press and around the blogosphere, about the Anglican Communion at the moment it was refreshing, today, to read the voice of reason that is Bishop Alan Wilson. I hope and pray his voice will be heard, and taken notice of: especially this weekend with General Synod meeting in York (Friday 4th — Tuesday 8th July).

There have been a lot of scare stories, about the possibility of the Anglican Church splitting (shattering(?)), hitting the press recently — Ruth Gledhill is covering the majority of them in her blog at The Times Online.

But Bishop Alan reminds us that, “it’s time for fresh thinking, not trench warfare”. It seems that it’s trench warfare that we’re currently facing as each side in the various disputes wants to just dig in and defend its position. Whereas we should be finding ways to talk. We should be thinking differently!

Whether you’re running the Lambeth conference, pathfinding for the Anglican Communion, getting life expectancy in Zimbabwe higher than it was in England in the 11th century, or finding how to be radically inclusive in a fully traditional church, the only method is not Power Play, Militant Entryism and Dumb-Boy Thuggery, but FAITH!

Bishop Alan Wilson