wfn.org | Spouses of Lambeth bishops launch programme of study and worship

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ACNS LC020 - 19 July 1998

Spouses of Lambeth bishops launch programme of study and worship

by David Skidmore

Lambeth Conference Communications

Over 600 bishops' spouses gathered for the opening service for
the Spouses' Programme on the evening of July 19. The spouses
were welcomed by Eileen Carey, wife of Archbishop of Canterbury
George Carey, who stressed the planners' hope that the spouses
find the conference to be an opportunity for fellowship and for
deepening their faith commitments.

"I pray that each one of us will find that our Christian
commitment is deepened by the experience of being together and
sharing with one another," said Mrs. Carey. The spouses'
programme, featuring four plenary sessions, daily Bible study
groups and a series of workshops, seminars and presentations, is
intended "as a gift from God," she said, adding that "those of us
who have planned the programme present it as a gift to you."

Study topics cover range of concerns

Among the topics to be covered are health and social issues,
mission and evangelism, spirituality, poverty and environmental
concerns, parenting, marriage, children at risk, and coping with
stress. Presenters include Dr. Jean F. O'Barr, director of
Women's Studies at Duke University, North Carolina, who will lead
a dialogue on "Women in Leadership" July 23; Archbishop David
Gitari of Kenya who will speak on "A Christian Challenge Towards
a Healthy Future;" Archbishop Carey, who will speak on the
Vocation of the Anglican Communion in the 21st Century July 27;
and Susan Howatch, author of the acclaimed series of novels
dealing with the Church of England, who will speak on "Harassed
Heroines and Healing Centers" August 4. 

Other offerings include a musical presentation, "Crowning Glory,"
written and produced by Veronica Bennetts, wife of Bishop Colin
Bennetts of the Diocese of Coventry in the Church of England. The
musical, which will feature bishops' spouses singing in chorus,
performing mime and dancing, will be staged August 6 for the
Feast of the Transfiguration.

Mrs. Carey stressed that the programme is meant to be flexible.
Spouses should feel free to attend only the events and activities
which interest them. "Make space for yourself and attend what you
feel is right for you," she said, but also encouraged the spouses
to take advantage of the Bible study sessions. Like the bishops,
the spouses will be working through all of the book of II
Corinthians during the course of the three-week Lambeth
Conference. 

Mrs. Carey also made a special point of welcoming the five male
spouses from the United States and New Zealand attending the
conference: David Dixon, husband of Bishop Suffragan Jane Dixon
of Washington D.C.; Ian Jamieson, husband of Bishop Penelope
Jamieson of Dunedin, New Zealand; the Rev. Mac McLeod, husband of
Bishop Mary Adelia McLeod of Vermont; Dr. Philip Roskam, husband
of Bishop Suffragan Catherine Roskam of New York; and  Larry
Waynick, husband of Bishop Catherine Waynick of Indianapolis. Dr.
Jamieson is among the spouses speaking on "The Role of the
Bishop's Spouse" today, one of four main presentations of the
spouses' programme.

Also speaking at the opening event were Sally Sargent, chair of
the spouses' programme planning group and wife of Bishop Frank
Sargent of Canterbury; site coordinator Jo Cundy, wife of Bishop
Ian Cundy of the Diocese of Peterborough in the Church of
England; Lady Christine Eames, president of the Mothers' Union;
and the Rev. Susan Bailey, chaplain to the spouses. 

Events will reflect Communion's diversity

Like the liturgies planned for the bishops, the Morning and
Evening Prayer services for the spouses will reflect the
communion's cultural and linguistic diversity, said Mrs. Bailey.
The vision of Bishop Roger Herft, the conference chaplain, is
"that Lambeth 1998 will be a community that includes everyone
appropriately," she said.

The worship portion of the spouses' opening event stressed
inclusiveness with a prayer for the conference read in seven
languages (French, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili,
Arabic, and English); the Gospel proclaimed in Swahili; and
intercessory prayers read by the spouses of three primates:
Cynthia Tay of Southeast Asia; Olga Lindsay of the West Indies;
and Phoebe Griswold of the United States. Solos also were sung in
Bengali and Spanish.

Benita Rumalshah of the Diocese of Peshawar, Pakistan, encouraged
the spouses to imagine themselves as a stick of incense consumed
by the fire of faith. The song "Life Burnt for Jesus," composed
for the 1948 Lambeth by Dr. Nirode K. Biswas, bishop of Assam, 
was sung by Rumalshah in Bengalese without accompaniment. Iris
Heinze de Axt, wife of Bishop Humberto Axt of Argentina, led the
spouses in the closing song "Santo, Santo, Santo" (Holy, Holy,
Holy) which was sung in English and Spanish. The spouses also
enjoyed a preview of some of the songs that will be featured in
the "Crowning Glory" revue Aug. 6.

In keeping with the theme of hospitality and community, the
spouses' programme has been housed in a miniature tent city
perched on platforms between Rutherford and Eliot Colleges. Known
as the Spouses Village, the canvas hamlet consists of a single
large tent on the east end of the platform for plenary sessions,
with a cluster of interconnected smaller tents for Bible study
groups and workshops and extending off of it. An open deck on the
platform's west end affords spouses with one of the best views of
Canterbury Cathedral.

With attached portable kitchens and toilet facilities, the
village is virtually self-sufficient. The only thing in short
supply is ventilation, which proved obvious at the opening event
held on the hottest day so far of the conference. The
temperature, which hit 26 (79F), forced the planners to cut short
the programme.

For further information, contact:

Lambeth Conference Communications
Canterbury Business School
University of Kent at Canterbury
Telephone: 01227 827348/9
Fax: 01227 828085
Mobile: 0374 800212

http://www.lambethconference.org