The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is an Episcopal parish in the Diocese of Pennsylvania that is centered on the worship of God, the ministry of all baptized persons, and the call to be agents of Christ’s love in the world.
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The Rev. Louis H. Temme

The Lambeth Conference

Rubrics Expanded is making a rare summer appearance over the next several weeks in order to discuss the Lambeth Conference, meeting July 16 – August 4, and its related issues.

The Lambeth Conference is a gathering of Anglican bishops that takes place approximately every ten years at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and is the one occasion when bishops can meet for worship, study, and conversation. Its name, Lambeth, refers to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s London residence, Lambeth Palace, where the first conference met in 1867. (Since 1978, in order to accommodate the increased number of bishops, the conference venue has been the University of Kent at Canterbury.) As one of the four ‘Instruments of Communion’, the Lambeth Conference is one of the primary ways in which member churches of the Anglican Communion relate to one another and are held together.

As with many things in Anglicanism, the notion of an Anglican Communion is rather ambiguous. Technically it refers to those churches that are in full communion with the See of Canterbury and are linked by affection and common loyalty (which is why conservatives often describe the current crisis in the Communion as a ‘straining of the bonds of affection’ by the American church after the ordination of Gene Robinson). Until the formation of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America after the American Revolution, the Anglican Communion consisted solely of the State Church of England, Ireland, and Wales (the Episcopal Church of Scotland having been disestablished by William III); since the late eighteenth century, numerous provinces which originated in English colonies have been added to the Communion. However, since a hallmark of the Communion has traditionally been the recognized autonomy of the various member churches (which is being sorely tested in present circumstances), it really is the person of the Archbishop of Canterbury (the first ‘Instrument of Communion’) who both provides and represents a unique focus of Anglican unity.

While it may seem that the Anglican Communion has never been in such a precarious place and that stresses of disunity mark the commencement of the fourteenth Lambeth Conference (five of the 38 primates, the bishops of their provinces, and the bishops of the Australian Diocese of Sydney have chosen to boycott Lambeth), it is important to remember that the Anglican church was born out of conflict as indeed was the first Lambeth Conference. By the mid-nineteenth century, considerable consternation had arisen relating to the Anglican Bishop of Natal, John Colenso. Colenso was a liberal bishop whose critical approach to biblical interpretation made significant contributions in the development of biblical scholarship, though the vast majority of his colleagues at the time did not see it that way.. Not only did he question the traditional authorship and historical accuracy of portions of the Bible, he also denied that punishment or damnation was eternal and rejected the notion that Holy Communion was a precondition to salvation. When the Bishop of Cape Town moved to excommunicate and depose Bishop Colenso, he appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England and won. His radical views and the perceived interference of the government in church affairs so unsettled the church, that in 1865 members of the Anglican Church of Canada petitioned the Archbishop of Canterbury for a conference with the view to counteract the effects of Colenso’s case and his theological positions. Two years later, the first Lambeth Conference convened.

Well, you might be thinking, this is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Lambeth 2008? First, it demonstrates that 2008 is hardly the first time bishops have gathered to debate and wrestle with the interpretation of scripture or radical actions taken by a member church of the Communion. Not only was the Church there in 1867, but again in the early decades of the twentieth century as it wrestled with the issue of birth control and again in the 70s and 80s over the issue of the ordination of women. Nor is it is the first time one bishop has interfered in the administration of another diocese. All of which is to say that while the present crisis of the Communion is terribly painful and seems insurmountable, it is not foreign territory.

One other important precedent was established with the first Lambeth Conference, the interpretation of which has been challenged since the 1998 conference. The original proposal for a conference of bishops was that it function as a church council authorized to define doctrine for the entire Anglican Church. Opposition to this notion was so strenuous that it had to be abandoned. (The perception and fear remained, though, causing the Archbishop of York and a number of other bishops to boycott the first Lambeth Conference.) Ever since, Lambeth has been understood as having no ‘constitution’ or formal powers to legislate for the Church. While resolutions have always been an outcome of Lambeth conferences and may express the opinions of a majority of bishops, they are non-binding on the life of the Communion.

Over the next couple weeks, Rubrics will explore some of the issues confronting the Church as a whole and that are on the agenda at Lambeth. For while Anglican identity, provincial autonomy, interpretation of scripture, and the role of bishops are hardly new issues, each generation must struggle to understand and define them anew for the present times. In the meantime, please keep the Church in your prayers. And, if you want to follow the news, you can do so at the following sites: www.lambethconference.org (from the official Lambeth site you will also be able to access the bishops’ blog); www.episcopalchurch.org; and www.anglicansonline.org.