Friday, July 25, 2008

To the Members of Saint Andrew’s Community:

Arthur and I miss you and send you our prayers for your wellbeing and happiness. Here at the Lambeth Conference we are engaged in a life-changing experience, a spiritual experience that we never expected. It has been a wonderful surprise! Somehow, we want to share with you the essence of this spiritual experience, and somehow we want you to experience how deeply God’s love can flow through your own spiritual self. My friends, this is a soul-changing experience for us, and I pray that it will be the same for you.

It was a great honor to have been selected by my Bishop, Michael Curry, to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England. He is paying all my expenses, and that has made it possible for me to attend. There are some 650 bishops and archbishops from all over the world attending this once every ten years gathering of Anglicans. They are attending at the specific invitation of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and head of the world-wide Anglican Communion. Approximately 230 Bishops and Archbishops, mostly from Africa, Asia and South America, have refused to attend, because they object to the Episcopal Church’s 2003 approval of the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, a wonderful pastor who is openly gay.

And then there is the “Witness Alongside Lambeth,” which is where Arthur and I, and about forty other men and women from all over the world, are participating in the Conference. We are not invited, and we are not formal participants in the world-wide gathering, but we are here to witness to the fact that our church embraces all the diversity that God’s world has to offer, and specifically that our church welcomes all people, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered children of God. In this witness process, we are specifically here to support our own Bishop Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, an openly gay child of God. We are also here to tell our life-stories to all those bishops and archbishops who may want to hear them.

The Lambeth Conference is not a decision-making body. It can recommend but not command. It began this way: John Henry Hopkins was bishop of Vermont and presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church when he suggested in 1851 that a gathering of Anglican bishops would be useful, but nothing happened. However, the first conference was held in 1867, and all agreed it was useful. So the bishops met again in 1878, and have continued to meet every ten years since that time.

This year’s Lambeth Conference, scheduled for July 16 through August 3, is unlike any previous Lambeth gathering. It is not set up for parliamentary-style deate and is not designed to produce legislation or resolutions. It is primarily designed for conversation, and there will be no decision making. This new format does not shy away from discussion of controversial issues, but it is not designed to produce statements implying that various issues have been resolved. The bishops are divided into small groups of eight to ten people. These groups are engaging in Bible study and discussion of various issues. The Witness Alongside Lambeth, in which Arthur and I are involved, is meeting daily as a group to study the same Bible passages as the bishops. We also meet as a group to discuss the same issues being discussed by the bishops. It is a marvelous process!

In the next day or so, I will send you more details about our Bible study and the issues we are discussing alongside the Bishops!

God bless you all.

Sam and Arthur