Canterbury Cathedral
Every ten years of so the bishops of the world-wide Anglican Communion come together to attend what is called 'The Lambeth Conference'. The first conference was called by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1867 when only 76 bishops came, compared to the 800 that are expected this year from 18th July to 9th August.
Today many of the bishops will not be English or English speaking. Since the first conference the Anglican Communion has spread over many parts of the world, mostly within the British Commonwealth of Nations.
The Lambeth Conference will hold most of its meetings in the city of Canterbury in the university, but some activity will still be held at Lambeth Palace, home of the Archbishop and some of the major services will be held at Canterbury Cathedral and in London.
It is not a legislative body and its resolutions will not be binding on the various member churches that make up the Anglican Communion. It is not to be compared with the General Councils of the Universal Church, although its discussions do have considerable influence. There is little doubt that some of the deliberations will cause disagreement amongst the bishops, because some of the agenda is controversial and the Archbishop has been appealing for calm.
It will be interesting to see what will happen. Lambeth is a conference with power only to confer, consult, discuss, debate and vote on resolutions. Many Anglicans today wonder if it is worth all the trouble and considerable expense involved. We shall see.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the visible symbol of the worldwide communion, and Anglicans around the world will be praying for him and the bishops who will be attending. Let us hope that they will have the courage to face the challenge of the many issues which face the church and its mission into the next millennium.
Pray for them!
written by Fr Malcolm Ferrier
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