wfn.org | Carey calls Communion 'stronger' for Lambeth experience

["Lambeth98" <storm@indigo.ie>]

ACNS LC103 - 7 August 1998

Archbishop Carey calls Communion 'stronger'
for Lambeth experience 

by Jan Nunley
Lambeth Conference Communications

In the final daily press briefing of the Lambeth Conference,
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey Friday (August 7)
pronounced his belief that the Anglican Communion is
"significantly stronger than when we began" because bishops from
around the world were able to meet, share stories and worship
together. 

Archbishop Carey thanked the press for their "stamina" and for
the quality of their reporting, while challenging those who have
questioned the ultimate usefulness of a Conference engaged in
prayer and study. "I hope that few people will take any gathering
of Christians to task for that," Carey rejoined, citing the
Conference's resolutions on international debt and human
sexuality as positive achievements. 

Listing achievements

"The voice of the churches has certainly encouraged the G8
nations to look seriously" at international debt, Carey said,
promising to press governments in the developed world to look
seriously both at outright debt forgiveness as well as the World
Bank's HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) instrument. 

Bishop Dinis Sengulane of Lemombo added that churches in
developing countries must also press their governments to engage
in moral decision-making about debt. Sengulane said that what
developing countries need is "not just cancellation of debt but a
monitoring group" to keep a close watch on the debt issue. "The
Church has an important role to play to avoid corruption, not
just on one side but on all sides," said Sengulane.

 "On human sexuality, we have been quite open about acknowledging
our differences," Carey stated, praising the resolution adopted
by the Conference. "We specifically included the commitment to
continue to listen to the experience of gay and lesbian
Christians. I am sad that our resolution has caused them such
pain. I can only try to assure them of my commitment to continue
to listen, to try to understand more of their experience of the
Church, and I invite them to continue the journey with us,
however painful, and I ask them to listen to the voice of the
Church as much as the rest of us must listen to them." 

Mind of the Conference

Carey maintained that "the mind of the Conference" was expressed
in the resolution. He added that he thought the resolution would
help Anglican mission in Muslim countries, as well as assuring
ecumenical partners of Anglican "theology and moral commitments."

Carey likened Anglican dialogue with homosexual Christians to
interfaith conversations with Islam. "I'm fully committed to the
uniqueness of the Christian revelation, but I can debate with
Muslims and others on that basis because we know there are firm
views on either side. That's also my basis for discussing
homosexuality," he said. 

But that prompted a question about whether that analogy
implicitly puts homosexual Christians outside the Anglican
Communion, which Carey denied. "Anyone who names the name of
Christ are full members of his body," he emphasized. "All are
called to obey our Lord, and to obey the tradition we have
received." 

Asked whether the Lambeth resolution would have any effect in
parishes and dioceses that now welcome homosexual relationships,
Carey answered, "If we are a Communion and not just a collection
of independent churches, then we will pay attention to the voices
of the Communion." 

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold of the Episcopal Church in the
USA,  responded, "We'll go back and live with the Lambeth
experience and see how it becomes part of our experience."
Griswold, who as Bishop of Chicago ordained homosexuals in
committed partnerships, said that now that he is the primate of
the American Church, "I only ordain bishops, not priests" and so
far the question of ordaining an openly-homosexual bishop hasn't
arisen in the American church. "I'll simply have to wait until it
does," he said.	

Summing up

Asked to sum up their experience of the Conference, the episcopal
communicators team offered a variety of responses. "I've been
stretched by the profound differences in worldview and culture,"
remarked Presiding Bishop Griswold. Archbishop Harry Goodhew of
Sydney (Australia) was "humbled by the faithfulness" of
persecuted Christians and encouraged by the "reassertion of
biblical foundations" in the vote on human sexuality. The
resolution affirming those opposed to women's ordination as loyal
Anglicans was applauded by Bishop Paul Richardson, assistant
bishop of Newcastle (England) as "putting bitterness and discord
behind us." 

"God is smiling as he looks at the Lambeth Conference," added
Bishop Sengulane.

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