wfn.org | Archbishop of Canterbury's Pastoral Letter to Bishops of the Anglican Communion

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Archbishop's Pastoral Letter to Bishops of the Anglican Communion

Posted On : August 26, 2008 2:12 PM | Posted By : Admin ACO
Related Categories: Lambeth  LC2008

ACNS: http://aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/8/26/ACNS4514

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has today sent a letter
to the bishops of the Anglican Communion, setting out his personal
reflections on the Lambeth Conference.

The full text of the letter can be found below:

As the Lambeth Conference of 2008 comes to an end, I want to offer some
further reflections of my own on what the bishops gathered in Canterbury
have learned and experienced. Those of you who have been present here
will be able to share your own insights with your people, but it may be
useful for me to add my own perspectives as to where we have been led.

For the vast majority of bishops, it seems, this has been a time when
they have felt God to have been at work. The Conference was not a time
for making new laws or for binding decisions; in spite of the way some
have expressed their expectations, Lambeth Conferences have never worked
straightforwardly in this way. The Conference Design Group believed
strongly that the chief need of our Communion at the moment was the
rebuilding of relationships - the rebuilding of trust in one another -
and of confidence in our Anglican identity. And it was with this in mind
that they planned for a very different sort of Conference, determined to
allow every bishop's voice to be heard and to seek for a final outcome
for which the bishops were genuinely able to recognize an authentic
account of their own work.

I believe that the Conference succeeded in doing this to a very
remarkable degree - more than most people expected. At the end of our
time together, many people, especially some of the newer bishops, said
that they had been surprised by the amount of convergence they had seen.
And there can be no doubt that practically all who were present
sincerely wanted the Communion to stay together.

But they also recognized the challenge in staying together and the
continuing possibility of further division. As the proposals for an
Anglican Covenant now go forward, it is still possible that some will
not be able to agree; there was a clear sense that some sort of covenant
will help our identity and cohesion, although the bishops wish to avoid
a legalistic or juridical tone. A strong majority of bishops present
agreed that moratoria on same-sex blessings and on cross-provincial
interventions were necessary, but they were aware of the conscientious
difficulties this posed for some, and there needs to be a greater
clarity about the exact expectations and what can be realistically
implemented. How far the intensified sense of belonging together will
help mutual restraint in such matters remains to be seen. But it can be
said that few of those who attended left without feeling they had in
some respects moved and changed.

We were conscious of the absence of many of our colleagues, and wanted
to express our sadness that they felt unable to be with us and our
desire to build bridges and restore our fellowship. We were aware also
of the recent meeting in Jerusalem and its statements; many of us
expressed a clear sense of affinity with much that was said there and
were grateful that many had attended both meetings, but we know that
there is work to do to bring us closer together and are determined to do
that work.

The final document of Conference Reflections is not a 'Report' in the
style of earlier Conferences, but an attempt to present an honest
account of what was discussed and expressed in the 'indaba' groups which
formed the main communal work of the Conference by the Reflections
Group. But although this document is not a formal Report, it has a
number of pointers as to where the common goals and assumptions are in
the Communion. Let me mention some of these.

First, there was an overwhelming unity around the need for the Church to
play its full part in the worldwide struggle against poverty ignorance
and disease. The Millennium Development Goals were repeatedly stressed,
and there was universal agreement that both governmental and
non-governmental development agencies needed to create more effective
partnerships with the churches and to help the churches increase and
improve their own capacity to deliver change for the sake of justice. To
further this, it was agreed that we needed a much enhanced capacity in
the Communion for co-ordinated work in the field of development. Our
Walk of Witness in London and the memorable address of the Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom formed a powerful focus for these
concerns. And the challenge to every bishop to identify clear goals for
developing environmentally responsible policies in church life was
articulated very forcefully indeed: information was provided to all
about how the 'carbon footprint' of the Conference itself might be
offset, and new impetus given to careful and critical self-examination
of all our practices. We were reminded by first-hand testimony that the
literal survival of many of our most disadvantaged communities was at
risk as a result of environmental change. This enabled us to see the
issue more clearly as one of justice both to God's earth and to God's
people

Second, on the controversial issue of the day regarding human sexuality,
there was a very widely-held conviction that premature or unilateral
local change was risky and divisive, in spite of the diversity of
opinion expressed on specific questions. There was no appetite for
revising Resolution 1.10 of Lambeth 1998, though there was also a clear
commitment to continue theological and pastoral discussion of the
questions involved. In addition to a widespread support for moratoria in
the areas already mentioned, there was much support for the idea of a
'Pastoral Forum' as a means of addressing present and future tensions,
and as a clearing house for proposals concerning the care of groups at
odds with dominant views within their Provinces, so as to avoid the
confusing situation of violations of provincial boundaries and competing
jurisdictions.

Importantly, it was recognized that all these matters involved serious
reflection on the Christian doctrine of human nature and a continuing
deepening of our understanding of Christian marriage. A joint session
with bishops and spouses also reminded us that broader moral issues
about power and violence in relations between men and women needed
attention if we were to speak credibly to the tensions and sufferings of
those we serve.

Third, there was a general desire to find better ways of managing our
business as a Communion. Many participants believed that the indaba
method, while not designed to achieve final decisions, was such a
necessary aspect of understanding what the questions might be that they
expressed the desire to see the method used more widely - and to
continue among themselves the conversations begun in Canterbury. This is
an important steer for the meetings of the Primates and the ACC which
will be taking place in the first half of next year, and I shall be
seeking to identify the resources we shall need in order to take forward
some of the proposals about our structures and methods.

The Conference was richly blessed in its guest speakers, who all
testified to their appreciation of the Anglican heritage, while asking
us searching questions about how flexible and creative our evangelistic
policies were, about the integration of our social passion with our
theology and about the nature of the unity we were seeking both within
the Anglican Communion and with other Christian families. Our many
ecumenical representatives played a full and robust part in all our work
together and we owe them a considerable debt.

Finally and most importantly of all, we were held within an atmosphere
of steady and deep prayer by our Chaplaincy Team. The commitment of the
Conference members to daily worship was impressive; and this has much to
do with the quality of that worship, both in moments of profound quiet
and in exuberant celebration. It mattered greatly that we were able to
begin with a period of retreat in the context of Canterbury Cathedral;
the welcome we received there was immensely generous and we all valued
the message clearly given, that this was our Cathedral, and that all of
us were a full part of the worshipping community that had been here
since Augustine came to Canterbury in 597.

I know that all present would wish me to express thanks once again to
all who planned and organized the Conference, to those who composed the
Bible Studies, those who devised and monitored the work of the indaba
groups and all others who served us so devotedly in all sorts of ways -
not least the Stewards, whose youthful energy and commitment and
unfailingly supportive presence gave all of us great hope for the
future. Thanks to all of you - bishops and spouses - who attended, for
the great commitment shown and for the encouragement you have given each
other.

But together we give thanks to God for his presence with us, his
faithfulness to us and his gifts to our Communion. As was said in the
closing plenary session, we believe that God has many more gifts to give
to and through our Communion; and we ask his grace and assistance in
teaching us how to receive what he wills to give. "He who supplies seed
to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for
sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." (2 Cor. 9v10)

> Your servant in Christ

> +Rowan Cantuar:

The Lambeth Conference reflections document may be found at:
http://www.lambethconference.org/reflections/document.cfm

___________________________________________________________________
ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London, is
distributed to more than 8,000 journalists and other readers around
the world.

For subscription INFORMATION please go to:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/acnslist.cfm