By David Paulen

Canterbury, Aug 1, 2022: Episcopal and Anglican bishops and their spouses filled Canterbury Cathedral on July 31 for the opening Sunday Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference.

The service spanned several hours and was marked by prayer and pageantry in a worship space with more than 1,400 years of history that was described in a welcoming message as “the heart of our communion.”

More than 600 bishops representing an estimated 165 countries are attending the July 26-Aug. 8 conference.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Anglican Church, convened the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops. Standing just inside the cathedral door, Archbishop Welby offered an opening prayer, seeking unity among bishops in their shared faith despite individual differences.

“Let us pray earnestly for God’s blessing upon those who are gathered here,” the archbishop said, “that through our discussions and our walking together we may grow into a deeper understanding of one another and a deeper love for the world Jesus Christ came to save.”

The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867.

As the Anglican Communion is an international association of autonomous national and regional churches and is not a governing body, the Lambeth Conferences serve a collaborative and consultative function, expressing “the mind of the communion” on issues of the day.

Lambeth is a riverside area home to Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

This is the 15th Lambeth Conference and the first in 14 years, after past conferences typically were held once a decade. Welby initially postponed calling his first Lambeth Conference by two years due to theological divisions between some of the provinces, and his plans to hold the conference in 2020 were delayed by another two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The last Lambeth Conference was in 2008.

The bishops displayed a broad spectrum of color, nationality and dress, reflecting the diversity of the Anglican Communion’s 42 provinces – four more provinces than existed in 2008.

These bishops also represent a dramatic shift in gender makeup, from only 14 female bishops in 2008 to an estimated 97 at this conference. No woman had ever attended a Lambeth Conference as bishop before 1998.

Bishop Vicentia Kgabe of Lesotho, a woman, was chosen to preach the service’s sermon.

“As we gather in this 15th Lambeth Conference, we carry in our hearts and pressed on our minds, matters and situations that challenge and/or trouble our respective home countries regions dioceses and provinces. We also gather to celebrate a diversity and the gifts that have been generously given to us for the mission and ministry in God’s church for God’s World.”

Bishop Kgabe, reflecting on the conference’s theme and on the service’s three readings, stressed servant leadership and hospitality. “There is no limit to how much you can be hospitable or how much you can serve God’s people,” she said, and she invoked a common saying in her culture: “A person is a person through other persons.”

She also seemed to allude to some of the divisions between conservative and progressive provinces that have festered on the sidelines of this Lambeth Conference. But like Jesus, who washed the feet of his disciples and then, in John 13:12-17, told them to go and do the same, “we can and we have it in us to heal and serve the world,” Kgabe said. “Love is central to this act. We do this by following the model that has been set for us by our savior.”

Archbishop Welby asked Archbishop Samy Fazwy of the Egypt-based Province of Alexandria to join him on the high altar before the peace. Archbishop Welby also invited up one of the conference’s ecumenical guests, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop Anba Angaelos, in recognition of the Anglican province’s efforts to strengthen relationships with other Christian churches in its region.

Archbishop Welby presented a primatial cross to Fazwy, noting that the pandemic had thwarted plans to present the cross earlier, upon the inauguration of the new province in June 2020.

Evidence of divisions, however, crept into the service during Communion, when some conservative bishops refused to receive the bread and wine alongside the handful of gay and lesbian bishops who are attending this Lambeth Conference at Welby’s invitation, a historic first.

The conservative bishops, part of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, have insisted on reaffirming a resolution passed in 1998 at that Lambeth Conference stating that homosexuality is forbidden, marriage is only for heterosexual couples and unmarried people should practice abstinence.

The Global South bishops, calling for sanctions, have singled out The Episcopal Church and five other provinces that have pursued inclusive LGBTQ+ policies. The bishops have vowed to force the issue during a plenary session on Aug. 1. They met with Welby on July 30 to discuss the matter, but no information had been released yet on what, if anything, was decided at that meeting.

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(David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.)