The Lambeth
Conference, a once-a-decade summit of the world's Anglican
bishops starting this week, will be a tense, closely watched
family reunion.
Nearly
one-quarter of the bishops -- theological conservatives
mostly from Africa -- are boycotting the event. The
650 or so bishops who are participating are a mix of
traditionalists and liberals with widely divergent
ideas on how to save the splintering Anglican Communion.
Overseeing the
roiling get-together is Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader. As the ''first
among equals,'' he has no authority to force a
compromise. Still, the outcome of the 20-day meeting
is being viewed as a test of his leadership.
''In my view, the
split has already taken place,'' said David Steinmetz,
an expert in Christian history at Duke Divinity School in
Durham, N.C. ''The interesting question -- still
unanswered -- is how wide and deep will it grow?''
The 77
million-member communion is a fellowship of churches that
trace their roots to the missionary work of the Church
of England.
The communion is
the third-largest group of churches in the world, behind
Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, and is struggling
with the same issues facing many denominations: How
should Christians interpret what the Bible says about
homosexuality, salvation and other issues?
Pope Benedict
XVI, en route last Saturday to World Youth Day in
Australia, told reporters: ''I am praying so that there are
no more schisms and fractures'' among Anglicans.
Cardinal Walter
Kasper, the top Vatican official on Christian unity, is
among clergy from other churches attending the conference.
Anglicans split from Rome more than four centuries ago
when English King Henry VIII bolted in 1534 after he
was refused a marriage annulment. The two groups have
been trying to rebuild ties _ an effort complicated by the
Church of England's move last week to accept women
bishops.
The Lambeth
Conference, which holds opening worship Sunday at Canterbury
Cathedral, is the first since the 2003 consecration of the
only openly gay Episcopal bishop, Reverend V. Gene
Robinson of New Hampshire. The Episcopal Church is the
Anglican body in the U.S.
For theological
conservatives, Robinson's elevation was the final straw
in the long-running debate over Scripture. They have been
threatening to break away ever since.
Last month, a
group of traditionalists from Africa, Australia and other
countries formed a new network within the communion that
challenges Williams' authority, but stops short of
schism.
Williams barred
Robinson and a few other problematic bishops from Lambeth
to ensure maximum participation in the meeting. Yet, the
boycotters objected that Williams included bishops who
consecrated Robinson and who accept same-sex
relationships in their dioceses.
Robinson,
meanwhile, will be in Canterbury anyway, on the outskirts of
the event, to be what he called a ''constant and friendly''
reminder of gay and lesbian Anglicans. Episcopal
bishops who were outraged that Robinson wasn't invited
had considered staying away from Lambeth as well, but
Robinson urged them to attend.
Mark D. Chapman,
lecturer in systematic theology at Ripon College
Cuddesdon, called Robinson's exclusion ''a piece of
unavoidable Realpolitik.''
''The archbishop
of Canterbury has an almost impossible job,'' Chapman
said. ''Had Robinson been invited, there would have been
such an outcry among conservatives that even moderate
bishops from more conservative churches would not have
been able to attend.''
Williams has
designed the program to move the topic off Robinson and
toward repairing the frayed relationships among bishops.
They will spend their days in small group Bible study
and discussions on evangelism and the humanitarian
work of Anglicans worldwide. Sexuality is a topic on
only one day of the summit.
No resolutions
will be adopted as they were at Lambeth a decade ago, when
bishops voted that gay relationships were incompatible with
Scripture. Instead, the conference will issue
''reflections'' by the meeting's end on August 3.
Conservatives
have condemned the Lambeth program as an attempt to paper
over differences by failing to tackle them head-on. Some
traditionalists attending Lambeth will likely try to
change the conference agenda.
No one expects a
definitive resolution of Anglican troubles by the end of
the summit.
But trends within
the communion will inevitably force Anglicans to make a
clear decision about the direction of their fellowship.
Next year, the
2.2 million-member Episcopal Church will hold its
national policy making meeting, called General
Convention, where delegates could overturn a
resolution that urged U.S. dioceses not to elect any more
bishops in same-sex relationships.
The move is
likely to have the support of other liberal leaning
Anglicans, in Canada and Western Europe. But the largest and
fastest-growing churches in the fellowship are in Africa and
other parts of the developing world, where strict
interpretation of Scripture dominates. (Rachel Zoll,
AP)
