Episcopal Press and News
AUSTRALIA: Sydney's bishops will not attend Lambeth
Episcopal News Service. February 4, 2008 [020408-08]
Matthew Davies
The bishops of the Diocese of Sydney, Anglican Church of Australia, will boycott the 2008 Lambeth Conference, according to a February 2 announcement from Archbishop Peter Jensen.
Speaking after an ordination service of 48 deacons at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney, Jensen said: "With regret, the Archbishop and Bishops of the Diocese of Sydney have decided not to attend the Lambeth Conference in July. They remain fully committed to the Anglican Communion, to which they continue to belong, but sense that attending the Conference at this time will not help heal its divisions. They continue to pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lambeth Conference."
In the days following Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' May 2007 announcement that he had invited all but a small number of bishops to Lambeth, the primates of Nigeria and Uganda indicated that their bishops would not attend the once-a-decade conference.
One month later, Rwanda's House of Bishops issued a communiqué criticizing the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury and announcing that they too would not attend Lambeth because "some of our bishops have not been invited."
During a January 21 media briefing at Lambeth Palace, Williams had a message for those bishops who have announced that they will not attend Lambeth. "I recognize their absolute right [to decide] in good faith and conscience whether or not they can be there. The invitation is on the table," he said. "Naturally, I should be delighted to see more rather than fewer bishops there. That's their choice, but the door is open."
Australia's Anglican Primate Phillip Aspinall expressed disappointment about Jensen's move and urged him to reconsider.
"I find it difficult to understand the view that the Lambeth Conference is not a proper place to deal with issues facing the international Anglican Communion," Aspinall said, adding that the only way to address issues of "deep difference" in the church is to "come together, pray together, study the scriptures and speak openly with each other."
A staunch conservative, Jensen is among the organizers of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which will he held one month prior to Lambeth and has stirred criticism for its planned June 15-22 meeting in the Holy Land, despite pleas from Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani for the event to be moved.
Jensen has said that the GAFCON event is intended for those bishops who have come to the conclusion that they cannot attend the Lambeth Conference, which will be held July 16-August 4 in Canterbury, England.
Dawani has said he is "deeply troubled" about the GAFCON meeting, of which he had no prior knowledge, because it "will import inter-Anglican conflict" into his diocese.
After meeting with the Jerusalem bishop January 12, Jensen said he would do his best to present Dawani's point of view to GAFCON's leaders, but he "could not promise that this matter would change" and hopes that Dawani "would be able to contribute something to the conference."
For his part, Williams told the January 21 media briefing that he had concerns about the GAFCON conference, because "in this case there are unresolved issues for the local church, for the Church in Jerusalem, which has pinpointed some anxieties about having such a conference at this time in the Holy Land. I really hope they can be addressed."