wfn.org | Interview with Most Revd Robin Eames on the the Lambeth

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

ACNS 3850     |     ACO     |	  7 JULY 2004

Interview with Most Revd Robin Eames on the the Lambeth Commission work

In recent weeks, ACNS has received a large number of queries about the
progress of the Lambeth Commission on Communion (LCC). ACNS managed to
catch up with the Chair of the Commission, the Most Revd Robin Eames, as
he passed through St Andrew's House this week. He agreed to give some
personal reflections on the work of the Commission, given that it is
impossible for him or the Secretary of the Commission to respond to the
large number of individual enquiries that we have received.

1. How would you describe the challenge facing the Lambeth Commission on
Communion?

Archbishop Eames: Well, you know the Anglican Communion has become
deeply polarised by recent developments in the Canadian Diocese of New
Westminster and the Episcopal Church (USA). It would not be putting it
too strongly to say that there is a sense of betrayal in parts of the
Communion about the actions in North America. Now in the Commission, the
Archbishop of Canterbury has brought together a group of primates,
theologians and canon lawyers to consider the diverse views within the
Communion, and to seek ways in which the provinces can find the highest
degree of communion possible given this diversity. We represent a
microcosm of the Communion's life. I am delighted to see the degree of
trust and co-operation amongst our members, which has been very
encouraging, and which augurs well as we have begun to navigate our way
towards our report. I'm extremely grateful for this as Chair.

2. Considering the diverse backgrounds of the commission members how has
the commission conducted its work together?

We've begun each day of our meetings with shared prayer and Bible Study.
I've taken the view that there is no point in bringing members half
around the globe for a meeting and them not having the opportunity for
their voice to be heard. Each member has in fact taken the opportunity
to contribute fully in the discussions both in plenary sessions and in
small groups. The discussions have been open, frank and generous.

3. The LCC stated that there was to be an open process for submission of
evidence. What were the criteria for deciding which material was for
primary consideration, and which was supplemental?

We've taken all the material we've received very seriously. Submissions
have come from a wide spectrum of the Communion - from primates; from
provinces; from groups of provinces and organisations, and from many,
many individuals. Everything has been read - in the first place either
by myself, or the secretariat based in London. And then, we've evaluated
what we've read on the basis of the key questions we identified at the
beginning of our work, and the quality of the insights into those
questions which have been offered to us. Sometimes, an individual's
insight has been better than that of a whole organisation. The Revd
Terrie Robinson, one of Canon Cameron's staff at the ACO, has made a
very helpful resume of all the individual submissions - I think that its
up on our website - but all the submissions are being made available in
full at the plenary meetings so that they can be read by members of the
Commission.

4. Who has been invited to speak to the commission?

We've actually sent out very few invitations - time for the Commission
has been very limited, and what we have not been able to do is to
respond positively to the many requests we have received for people to
make representations in person. There is simply not the time to be able
to do this, and representations in person have been on a very limited
basis. At our first meeting in Windsor, we invited four key theologians
of international standing, who were at hand in England, to offer advice
on the shape of the ecclesiological questions that we would be
addressing; at our second meeting in Kanuga, we asked the Presiding
Bishop of the Episcopal Church (USA) to bring a team to speak to us
about different perceptions of the situation within that province; and
we asked the Rt Revd Bob Duncan, as a leading voice of opposition in the
Episcopal Church, to make his views known in person also, as we needed
to understand clearly the nature and direction of the work of the
Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes.

5. There has been criticism that only certain voices are being heard by
the commission. Is this the case? What were the guidelines that decided
who was allowed to present directly to its members?

Well, as I've said, very few people have actually had the opportunity to
speak to the Commission in person. But I must say that there has been
absolutely no intention of listening only to particular voices, or even
the loudest voices. From the first, we sent out an open invitation for
people to submit evidence to the Commission. Some groups appear to have
been waiting for us to take the initiative to contact them. That has not
been possible. But can I say again, that we don't want any voice to go
unheard - the opportunity is there for all to make a submission to the
Commission. And of course, the individual members of the Commission are
listening all the time to the people they encounter in their ministries
across the globe.

6. Is the commission still receiving evidence/presentations?

Yes. All are invited, without exception, to make written submissions to
the Commission by means of the process set out on our website in the
advisory of 18th December last year
(http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/37/00/acns3713.cfm).
Many groups and individuals have already elected to do so, and it is my
understanding that all submissions made by this method have been
acknowledged and processed for the consideration of the Commission. If
anyone feels that any particular voice is going unheard by the
Commission, then I urge them to make a submission by this route, bearing
in mind the questions with which the Commission has been charged as they
are set out in that advisory.

7. Should the commission's remit also have included the issue of
sexuality, or was it justified to centre the commission's work purely on
how to maintain the highest degree of communion when confronted by
divisive issues?

The simple answer is that the Lambeth Commission was not asked to
reconsider the teaching of Resolution 1.10 of the Lambeth Conference of
1998, and so it is not at liberty to do so. The question of ministry by
or to persons of homosexual orientation is not a matter which can be
debated beyond the position adopted there, because the Primates made it
clear in their statement of last October that Resolution 1.10 remains
the formally voiced teaching of the Anglican Communion on this issue. It
is part of the basis on which the Commission must come to its
conclusions, and is not open to renegotiation by the Commission.

8. Will the commission report on time, and what is the process after
that?

Yes - I'm confident that the level of work will enable the Commission to
complete its work by the end of September this year. The Standing
Committees of The Primates' Meeting and the Anglican Consultative
Council will be meeting together in mid-October, and I'd like to deliver
the report to the Archbishop of Canterbury in time for that meeting.
However, its worth noting that the Report was commissioned by the
Archbishop of Canterbury at the request of the Primates, so the report
will go to the Standing Committee of the Primates' Meeting for their
consideration, and not to the Joint Committees. It is the Standing
Committee of the Primates which will have to come to a decision about
how and when the Primates as a body will respond to the report, although
there will have to be consultation with the Standing Committee of ACC
because the Anglican Consultative Council will undoubtedly have to
receive the report in due course as well.

9. Have you got any advice to offer the Communion in the meantime?

I am increasingly aware of the importance of keeping channels of
communication open at every level of our Communion at this time. This, I
feel, is particularly important when we remember that there is much
alienation, hurt and bewilderment on all sides. I believe, from my
experience in Northern Ireland, that division, when honestly confronted
and understood, can so easily be turned into opportunity for the future.
When the report is published, I hope that it will be read with prayer
and generosity and will provide a basis to help us to face up to any
future tensions, and to discern God's purposes for the Anglican
Communion.

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