Marriage in a changing society and the effects of poverty on family life are just two issues which will be looked at by the bishops' spouses in their programme during the Lambeth Conference.

Some 600 bishops' spouses will be taking part in their own programme. Sited mainly in a large tent overlooking the City of Canterbury and the cathedral, the event will be hosted by Eileen Carey, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

"Planning for the programme started in my mind as soon as I knew there was to be a conference in 1998," she explained.

Catering for the needs of people across a wide age range, from all parts of the globe, and speaking many different languages, has been a challenge. "Our aim is not only to provide a time of fellowship and building up, spiritually, but to enable us all to go away with fresh insights, better equipped to share these with the people at home," explained the Archbishop's wife.

There will be a team of translators working to and from French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili and Japanese.

The programme is being run to a tight budget with a good deal of the work being done voluntarily.

The Spouses' Programme will have four main presentations: The Role of the Bishop's Spouse; Social Issues; The Anglican Communion; and Mission and Evangelism.

The Role of the Bishop's Spouse presentation, on Monday 20 July at 3-5pm, will be held in the Small Sports Hall.

It is hoped that the following speakers will take part: Mrs Elaine Storkey, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Christianity; Mrs Elizabeth Appleby, wife of the Bishop of the Northern Territory, Australia; Dr Ian Jamieson, husband of the Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand; Mrs Eleci Neves, wife of the Bishop of South Western Brazil; Mrs Shamum Malik, wife of the Bishop of Lahore, Pakistan; Mrs Maggie Nkwe, wife of the Bishop of Kerksdorp, South Africa.

The Social Issues presentation on Thursday 23 July at 2.45-5.15pm will be based on the theme "A Healthy World? Strategies for Hope". Expert speakers will be talking about the HIV/AIDS pandemic which affects all parts of the world. Members of the World Health Organisation and the UK Minister for Health, Tessa Jowell, will be focussing on key health issues. Archbishop David Gitari will give a 15 minute presentation on "The Christian Challenge Towards a Healthy Future" and will include information about work in Kenya.

There will be a 20 minute presentation from Dr Yuji Kawaguchi, Director Inter-Agency Affairs World Health Organisation, on the global dimension of health issues. Dr Ian Campbell, International Health Programme Consultant, Salvation Army, will give a presentation on HIV/AIDS and its impact world-wide. Other speakers will include Mrs Juliana Okine, Ghana; Mrs Sheila Rumalshah, Pakistan; Mrs Elena Apeleo, Chile; and the Rt Revd Geralyn Wolf, Bishop of Rhode Island. A summing up and response will be given by the Rt Hon Mrs Tessa Jowell, UK Minister of State for Public Health.

Monday 27 July 11.30pm-12.45pm. The Archbishop of Canterbury will give a presentation "Together in God's Mission - The Vocation of the Anglican Communion in the 21st Century", and or Monday 3 August 3pm-5pm Go "Into All The World - Mission and Evangelism Today and Tomorrow" will be presented.

There will be a series of workshops to enable spouses to work through topics raised in the presentations.

These will not be open to the press, but the speakers may be interviewed afterwards, provided arrangements have been made via the Press Officer, Sally Hastings, whose desk will be located in The Home Tent. Precise dates and times of the workshops will be available at the conference. Workshops include:

• Clavera Ntukamazima of Burundi will lead a workshop on practical reconciliation. It will be based on the theme of recreating a stable and loving community when bloodshed and hatred have destroyed it.
• Marion Gibson from Belfast, a trauma counsellor, will lead a workshop on dealing with trauma - the Christian viewpoint.
• Margaret Sentamu wife of the Bishop of Stepney, will lead a workshop on Gospel and Culture. She will say that it is necessary to be sensitive to other backgrounds, cultures and ways of thinking for the Church to share its faith in relevant ways with relevant words.

One of the spouses, musician Veronica Bennetts, wife of the Bishop of Coventry, has composed a musical, Crowning Glory, which she will cast, rehearse and produce at the conference. It will be performed on Thursday 6 August, The Feast of the Transfiguration, at 8.30pm. It speaks of transformation as a young king demonstrates to his people that lives are transfigured and transformed by the example of self-giving love. Although 109 English bishops and even more American bishops are to attend this summer they will be outnumbered by bishops from Africa, where the Church is growing fast.

Many will come from societies very different from our own, and they will have some stories to tell ...which need to be heard by the whole Communion. Stories of tragedy and inspiration. Stories of hope and joy.

Examples:

• Marion McCall, wife of the Bishop of Willochra, will tell how her diocese raised the money for her to learn to fly a light aircraft, to pilot her husband around his vast diocese. A private sponsor has paid for Marion to have a light aircraft maintenance lesson at Headcorn Airfield, Kent on Wednesday 29 July 10.15am.
• Madeleine Kayumba, wife of Norman Kayumba, Bishop of Kegeme, Rwanda, will describe how the Church has struggled to witness to Christ in the face of a brutal civil war.
• Berta Sengulane, wife of the Bishop of Mozambique, will talk of the pain and turmoil endured during 16 years of war in her country.

Other speakers:

Tuesday 4 August at 8pm Susan Howatch will give a talk 'Harassed Heroines and Healing Centres' - a novelist's view of the traditional Christian Ministry of Healing.

Friday 7 August Michele Guinness will give a talk 'Christian Celebration the Jewish Way'.

Press release issued by Sally Hastings, Press and Communications Officer, Spouses' Programme.