It is easy to see why many bishops will return from the Lambeth Conference grateful for the experience – with a greater understanding of what it means to be part of a global network of churches, writes Susie Leafe.
One bishop from South Sudan, in a region torn apart by civil war, said he had learned that his church was not the only one that suffered. Another bishop, from the Horn of Africa, surrounded by luxury beyond his wildest dreams, wept each day for his flock at home.
Stories have been shared and selfies have been taken. I have no doubt relationships have been formed that will impact the work of the gospel over the years to come.
In many ways it reminded me of my first GAFCON conference – in Nairobi in 2013 (GAFCON is the global movement of orthodox Anglicans, of which some are officially part of the Anglican Communion, some parts are not).
But there was something fundamentally different about Lambeth – and it wasn’t that I wasn’t a delegate. Behind the smiles and the claims of ‘Walking Together’ from the platform – this Conference was deeply divided.
A third of bishops stayed away and of those that came, about a third could not in conscience partake in Holy Communion with other bishops.
While some may say the issue that divides the Anglican Communion is human sexuality, the reality is that the divide is far deeper than that. It goes to the heart of how we know God. At Lambeth it is our context that matters – what is true in one place may not be true in others. Leading to multiple truths.
As Archbishop Justin Badi, the Chair of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) said, quite clearly: ‘A communion is where you have one belief, one doctrine, and here there is an issue where there are two different doctrines. How can you walk together?’
Don’t mishear me, I have been around long enough to know that those involved in GAFCON are not of one mind on everything. There is huge diversity – but at GAFCON it is possible to relax because there are boundaries. The Jerusalem Declaration sets out the legitimate bounds of doctrinal diversity within Biblical orthodoxy and, more importantly, the basis on which those boundaries have been drawn.
Sadly, at Lambeth such boundaries are missing.
In his final Keynote Address the Archbishop of Canterbury set out his solution to that problem: keep talking.
‘…it will enable our relationships to draw us towards greater holiness and unity.
‘And the very obedience of going is one of the main ways in which the church finds renewal and revival. Because when we travel, we travel with God – look at the Israelites in the wilderness in the Exodus. And travelling is how we build relationship.’
Ironically. the only statement to come out of the Lambeth Conference was the GSFA Communique – setting out their vision for a resetting of the Anglican Communion.
While Justin Welby leads the Anglican Communion through the wilderness, it will be up to GAFCON and the GSFA to offer leadership to faithful Anglicans.
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