I invite your prayers for all attending the Lambeth Conference
by the Right Reverend Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of Vermont
Mountain Echo, July/August 2008

Dear people of Vermont:

Ann and I leave for the Lambeth Conference for Anglican Bishops and the parallel Lambeth Conference for Spouses on July 13. More than anything else, we ask for your daily prayers for us and for all those who gather in Canterbury and at Kent University during this time of tension and challenge within the Anglican Communion. Our three weeks at Kent University promise to be a time of learning, engagement and enrichment. There is also the potential for disappointment, disagreement and controversy.

Deepest in my heart is the hope that this gathering of bishops and spouses will be what the Archbishop of Canterbury has called for it to be: “…a spiritual encounter. A time when people are encountering God as they encounter one another, a time when people will feel that their life of prayer and witness is being deepened and their resources are being stretched. Not a time when we are being besieged by problems that need to be solved and statements that need to be finalised, but a time when people feel that they are growing in their ministry.”

At the heart of the both the bishops’ and spouses’ gatherings are the small Bible study groups of eight that meet nearly every day. Both groups will use portions of the Gospel of John in our Bible studies. I have been asked to serve as a facilitator for one of the bishops’ Bible study groups and I hope to do that; however there are still some logistics to be worked out with regard to our travel plans so that I can participate in the facilitators’ training session at Kent University in advance of the conference. I know that many of you have participated in Bible study groups like these and can attest to their value in building and deepening relationships.

Bishops also gather on most days in larger Indaba groups composed of five Bible Study Groups. Archbishop Williams described the Indaba groups this way: “Indaba is a Zulu word describing a meeting for purposeful discussion among equals. Its aim is not to negotiate a formula that will keep everyone happy but to go to the heart of an issue and find what the true challenges are before seeking God’s way forward. It is a method with parallels in many cultures, and it is close to what Benedictine monks and Quaker Meetings seek to achieve as they listen quietly together to God, in a community where all are committed to a fellowship of love and attention to each other and to the word of God.” The focus in each Indaba group will come from the theme of the day.

The various themes are:
• Monday, July 21 – Celebrating Common Ground: the bishop and Anglican identity.
• Tuesday, July 22 – Proclaiming the Good News: the bishop and evangelism.
• Wednesday, July 23 – Transforming Society: the bishop and social injustice.
• Friday, July 25 – Discerning our Shared Calling: the bishop, other churches and God’s mission.
• Saturday, July 26 – Safeguarding Creation: the bishop and the environment.
• Monday, July 28 – Engaging with a multi faith world: the bishop, other religions and Christian witness.
• Tuesday, July 29 – Equal in God’s sight: when power is abused.
• Wednesday, July 30 – Living under scripture: the bishop and the bible in mission.
* Thursday, July 31 – Listening to God and each other: the bishop and human sexuality.
• Friday, August 1 – Fostering our common life: the bishop, the Covenant and the Windsor Process 1.
• Saturday August 2 – Fostering our common life: the bishop, the Covenant and the Windsor Process 2.

While each day’s theme is important, there will likely be intense interest in the final few topics. The Lambeth Conference is not intended to be a decision-making body for the Anglican Communion, and so I enter into the discussion of these sensitive topics knowing that for the Episcopal Church it is the General Convention where important matters affecting our church are ultimately determined. I do think discussion among the bishops in these areas can be helpful, and so I will enter those days with the intention of listening carefully to others and sharing fully my thoughts, concerns and hopes for our common life in Christ, for a church that is fully inclusive and welcoming to all, and for a church bound together by mission.

Another important part of the Lambeth Conference for me is the planning and hosting of two receptions for bishops and spouses who desire to meet and learn more about Bishop Gene Robinson and his faith journey. I am working on these receptions with several other bishops from New England, and I think there will be great interest from bishops around the world in attending these gatherings.

It would be easy to be bitter because Bishop Robinson did not receive an adequate invitation to attend the Lambeth Conference, but at this point I don’t think that serves any useful purpose. I—and many others—have expressed our disappointment, and now it is important that we help him be present in a significant way to those who want to meet him and hear from him rather than about him. In a related matter, Ann and I will arrive in London on Monday, July 14, in time to attend the British premiere of the documentary, For the Bible Tells Me So. This event is being held in Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre for the Arts and will include greetings from Bishop Robinson and Sir Ian McKellen.

Other aspects of the Lambeth Conference include worship, workshops, the Marketplace featuring various mission and ministry organizations from around the world, along with vendors and church interest groups, and a day in London when we will walk en masse in support of the Millennium Development Goals and visit Buckingham Palace. Following the conference, Ann and I will head to Edinburgh, Scotland, for some vacation time with long-time friends.

I plan to stay in touch with folks back in Vermont during the course of the conference via a link on our diocesan Web site. More information about that and how to use our Web site to link to “all things Lambeth” is in this edition of the Mountain Echo, along with other important information about the Lambeth Conference [see Page E].

I end where I began by inviting your prayers for both Ann and me and for our respective conferences. We’ll both write more when we return, but knowing that you are holding us in your prayers means so very much to us. May your summer include some time to relax and be with family and friends and may God continue to bless you in your daily life and ministry with grace and hope.

Faithfully,
+Thomas

Go to index of Bishop Ely's Mountain Echo columns and letters to the diocese

Go to Bishop Ely's Notes from the 2008 Lambeth Conference