Canterbury

The first plenary session of the Lambeth Conference, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday (July 21) in the two main plenary halls, will focus on "The Bible, the World, and the Church," helping to establish the central role scripture will play in the conference.

Conference planners stressed that the Bible should "receive a quite prominent place fairly early in the conference," so that "interpretation of the Bible is integrated with the deliberations of the conference on its key topics," said Dr. David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University and coordinator for the plenary.

The plenary will feature video interviews with bishops and spouses commenting on 2 Corinthians, which is the focus of their daily Bible studies. It also will include a theatrical interpretation of Jacob's encounter with God by the Riding Lights Theatre Company, followed by an address by Dr. Ford.