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 »

Give us patience and courage never to lose hope

Thinking about “hope” and the Church, the BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day was, I think, especially apposite on Wednesday of this week (23 July). Hopefully, this link (here), will always take you directly to the appropriate page — it should, as it points to a search result. I don’t always listen to them, but this one was pointed out to me for a special reason, which I’ll come to later.

In his Thought for the Day the Rt Revd James Jones, taking a break from Lambeth, talks about the first time he met the other members of his Bible Study group at the conference. There are two Japanese bishops in his group, along with their interpreter. When one of them was introducing himself, there was just one word of the Japanese that he understood, “Nagasaki”. The Bishop talking was the one who has Nagasaki in his diocese. And, for James Jones, hearing that single word opened up a whole new world.

Here’s what he goes on to say:

Here in that tiny room no bigger than a prison cell were eight bishops whose nations had once been separated by a war, by terrible violence and by atomic bombs. And here we now were, our Father’s children, sitting together in peace, brothers and sisters of Christ. Strangely, the word ‘Nagasaki’ falling from the lips of this Japanese brother filled me with hope - that brutality can be supplanted by brotherliness.

copyright © 2008 BBC

To my mind, that seems to be one of those thoughts that is so blindingly obvious, but no one has put it into words before, quite possibly because no one has really thought it before.

The Anglican Communion is not perfect; and it is, currently, facing some real difficulties. But when compared to some of the difficulties that have been faced, and got through, in the past, things don’t seem so bad.

I find myself wanting to agree with James Jones’ final thought in this too. That if we pull through the current difficulties we just might, possibly, hopefully, even offer a model to others of forging friendship through tension and trust.

The Lambeth Conference, just because of what it is means people from so many different countries and cultures are talking to each other, can be a beacon of hope for the Church, and indeed for the world. Let’s hope and pray that we’ll have the patience and the courage to let it shine forth.

And the special reason I hinted at earlier. The Japanese Bishop was the Rt Revd Gabriel Shoji Igarashi, Bishop of Kyushu, Japan. He was the Bishop who sat in the congregation for Evensong when I preached my last sermon. And the reason he was there is because he was our current Vicar’s Bishop, when he was in his last post, for twelve years, in Nagasaki.

Lord of heaven and earth,
as Jesus taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer,
give us patience and courage never to lose hope,
but always to bring our prayers before you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Tenth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council