Bishop Rabb's Reflections on Lambeth
Saturday, August 2
Final Lambeth Reflection
The Lambeth Conference of 2008 is now over and and Sharon and I are on vacation in Scotland. So good friends in the fall Eugene and I will have time to give greater detail, and we will. I am feeling well, but still have to take care as I fatigue easily. But it was a great, and life changing, experience and I am grateful that I was here.
Did we resolve all issues? No, this was not our intent. Did we vote on anything, no for we did not gather for this reason. Did we build relationships, listen to one another, worship together, share, envision and work for our common mission? Yes, we did. I am persuaded that the seeds sown at Lambeth this year will bear fruit as the Anglican Communion goes forward and faces the issues that concern and divide us.
At an event such as Lambeth many personal connections are made, relationships formed and insights shared. The following is not an exhaustive list, but a sample of what has been shared and learned, and of whom I want to thank.
Thanks to:
The Wonderful St. Bruno Bible Study and my dear colleagues Barbara, Roger and Richard (from Australia), Idris (Primate of Scotland), Nigel (the Church of England) Dabney (Soutwest Florida) and John, our facilitator (Barbados)!
Our candid and supportive Indaba Group.
Thanks to the bishops and spouses from:
- The Diocese of Derby and the whole of the Church of England, the Church of Ireland and the Scottish Episcopal Church for the finest of hospitality.
- The Church of the North India and the opportunities that await us as I come to be with you in the spring and our work on education, gender equality and an end to human trafficking.
- The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia for lifting our Spirts.
- The Anglican Church of Australia for sharing your stories and your burdens so caringly.
- The Anglican Church of Canada for your courage and conviction.
- The Nippon Sei Ko Kai (Japan) for the courage of apology and reparation.
- The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East for showing us the work of peace.
- The Church of the province of Melanesia for a great witness to forgiveness.
- The Church of the Province of Central Africa for revealing to us the needs for medical care and help.
- The Anglican Church of South Africa for, as always, living into truth and reconciliation.
- The Episcopal Church of the Sudan for listening, sharing and for showing us what it means to really care for people in need.
- The Church of the Province of Myanmar(Burma) for living under the most trying and difficult of circumstances.
- To Archbishop Rowan Williams for your steady, caring, loving leadership as this body went through the storms. We could not have done it without you.
Peace and all good,
+John
Wednesday, July 30
The Necessity of our Unity
We are now well into the second full week of the Lambeth Conference. There is some anxiety about just what is going to be said and done given that we are not a legislative body. However, I am confident that the work we are doing in our Indaba groups will bear good fruit in that we are identifying the work we have to do for mission as the Anglican Communion.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, in his second Presidential Address spoke of a "spirit of generosity" by which he meant for all of us to more generously hear and respect the views of those whose positions differ from ours. He further called on us to "speak from the centre," which is not a compromised middle, but rather a position that most fully embraces the heart of our Anglican identity. I, for one, appreciated very much his address.
It is clear that the process towards a Covenant will move forward and a document will be delivered to Anglican Consultative Council XIV in May of 2009. Now this body can accept the document and send it on the provinces, which for us means to The Episcopal Church, or send it back for more work. So it is not clear, at all, if we will have such a document for General Convention 2009.
The Windsor Continuation Group will go forward and they have taken testimony over three sessions. This is what I said to this body and it speaks as well to the proposed covenant and the Lambeth Conference as well:
"There is a collect which says in part 'save us from false choices.' So I wish to address the process for the Windsor Continuation as well as the Covenant. I fear that we will seek quick and easy answers and be too quickly pushed into 'either/or' thinking. I do not want to have to make what I call 'false choices,' by which I mean choices that do not reflect a deeper understanding of what it means to be the Anglican Communion and even more deeply the Church. We have a challenge before us, but we also have an opportunity, an opportunity to define ourselves more deeply in service to Christ Jesus. I know in my own diocese gay and lesbian persons are uneasy because I speak of the necessity of our unity as the Anglican Community. Those who hold to more traditional views as well worry about the direction of the church. But I do not think we have to choose between caring for all of God's people and having unity. I often hear either we must be 'orthodox' or we must pursue 'justice.' I want both to be orthodox and to adhere to Biblical justice. I often hear among many, including some of you, that 'I follow Matthew 25 (what you do for the least of these you do for me)' or 'I follow Matthew 28 (the Great Commission).'
Frankly, the Gospel is not multiple choice! We follow all that our Lord demands of us! I want the work we do on all fronts of our Anglican dialogue to be such that we are not pushed to make 'false choices,' and not see the deeper calling we have. So I urge us to follow what is a spiritual virtue, though not a popular one - patience. My God grant us the patience to avoid 'false choices,' and to find the deeper call we have in Christ Jesus. Thank you for your attention."
I have had some very good discussions with bishops on many sides of our issues following this testimony and it is not because I said anything so meaningful, but I trust because we are seeking to discover that deeper calling.
Daily I am praying for the Diocese of Maryland and Eugene and I regularly speak of what all of this means for us in Maryland.
Peace,
+John
Monday, July 29
What is the Challenge for the Diocese of Maryland?
Last Thursday, July 24, while we did, in fact, have tea at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty, the moving events for me were that all of us bishops and our spouses marched from Whitehall to Lambeth Palace in support of the Millenium Development Goals. Then at Lambeth Palace we received a stirring address from Prime Minister Gordon Brown on why it is our "moral duty" to fight against poverty, degradation, inequality and the lack of education throughout the world. He told us that "you as bishops and leaders of the church must make the difference."
Over and over I am hearing stories of concerns throughout the world. Especially moving were the bishops from Burma (they do not use Mayanmar) and what life is like after the cyclone and in light of the military dictatorship. Another moving story was from a bishop from the Congo who spoke of his areas need for medicines. I keep asking, "What is the challenge for the Diocese of Maryland and what can we do?"
I have tentatively accepted the invitation to go to North India this coming spring. Companion relationships can, and must, be such that each partner benefits. We have gained from our relationship with Accra. It is necessary, I believe, for there to be a number of relationships and partnerships that we in Maryland can explore. Eugene and I have been discussing this, a lot. The important matter is that we are called by our Lord to serve and there are crying needs from many places that we can and must address.
Each day, at either the morning Eucharist or at Evensong, one province leads the worship. It is so exciting to hear eight languages, a wonderful variety of music and to see the fullness of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church led Saturday night and we played a video showing what is often not well understood about us, our diversity.
We still have work before us, and I have been fed by so rich a gathering of people from all over the world. Sharon and I had a delightful day at St. James, Bicknor this past Sunday. The church dates from 1016, Saxon times in fact.
So we move forward into our second full week. Finally, thanks to the bishops and spouses from New Zealand whose singing and good spirit has given us all a good supper lift.
In peace,
+John
Wednesday, July 23
Worship, Listening, Reconciliation
Prior to coming to Canterbury I had six wonderful days in derby, sharing in their ministry, being with twenty bishops from the Church of North India, preaching at Thorpe, being interviewed by the BBC and seeing some of the most beautiful scenery in England. The hospitality was wonderful!
The Lambeth Conference is now fully underway. We meet daily in Bible study groups and I am with seven other bishops which include another from The Episcopal Church, three from Austrailia, the Primate of the Scottish Episcopal Church (and remember they had the name first), one from the Church of the England and the Bishop of Barbados (Province of the West Indies). It was a tremendous experience. Along with six other Bible study groups we are part of an Indaba group, where we work on the major themes as well as share.
Here are the highlights for me so far:
We had a two and a half day retreat directed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
There was a wonderful worship service on Sunday at Canterbury Cathedral with an outstanding sermon on Anglican identity (to applause) by the Primate of Sri Lanka.
At a Eucharist led by the Anglican Church of Korea the Primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (The Anglican Church in Japan) went to the microphone at the intercessions and offers an apology for Japan’s past treatment of Korea. For me it brought to mind the continued work we in our church have to do for reparations.
The Church of Central Africa, which includes Zimbabwe, led a beautiful service in the midst of what for them is a most painful time.
Hearing stories from bishops from the Sudan, from Tanzania, from India from Jerusalem and the Middle East and all over the Communion about their mission and their challenges.
I am confident that in worship, prayer, conversation and genuine love we can find the identity for us as the Anglican Communion and as Christ's church.
Peace and all good,
+John
Wednesday, July 9
Departing for Derby
For me one matter of special interest in regard to the Lambeth Conference is that I am one of the bishops of The Episcopal Church invited to spend time on a diocese in the Church of England, Church of Wales, Scottish Episcopal Church or Church of Ireland.
These four provinces actually act as our hosts. I will be in the Diocese of Derby, and Derbyshire is pronounced darbyshure! This in the the midlands and includes Derby,
Chesterfield, Wicksworth, Hulland and Carsington. Along with a bishop from South India, I will hear about their mission and ministry and share ours as well.
The great gift of Lambeth is that we come together to share and learn. This is far more critical than legislating. Yes we will discuss the proposed Covenant and discuss matters of common concern. But the great gift is to have true discourse, which means really listening one to another.
The presenting issue for Lambeth is, I believe, what does it mean to be a communion? What is the giftedness of such and what is our calling? The deeper issue is what does it mean to be the church? The key factor in all discourse is to be asking the right question. My hope and my prayer for Lambeth is that we will ask the right and the faithful questions.
I think before we have too much anxiety over the proposed Anglican Covenant or over changes in the Anglican Communion we need to embrace the reality that what is key is what is God calling us to be and to do. To be in communion and to be the church is all about living into our call from Christ. We need to see beyond the limits of our own situations and see the fuller picture. We need to realize fully what our Lord says in John 15: 16a “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” All of our conversation is about being called and chosen by Christ for Christ’s work.
The Lambeth Conference affords a wonderful opportunity to ask the right question, what are we called to do and to be as the Anglican Communion and as Christ’s church.
+John
