Canterbury

Transformation and renewal

After all the planning of the last few years it was wonderful for me to stand in the Cathedral yesterday morning and to be able to say with you all 'Yes, our 13th Lambeth Conference is now under way'. I am frequently asked: 'What is the point of it'? and you will recall that the very first Lambeth Conference began with that kind of question and criticism. There was a certain coolness within the Church of England when Archbishop Longley first broached the subject. A number of senior bishops declared their opposition and the Archbishop even felt the cold shoulder of Westminster Abbey when Dean Stanley would not allow the Conference to have the final service in the Abbey.

Outside the Church there were those who couldn't see the point of it. The Times' comment was: 'This sort of ecclesiastical tea party at which some 70-year-old gentlemen would indulge in a mild chat about religious politics . . . was . . . frittering away their time and energy on impractical dreams'. Punch had a cartoon of bishops washing their dirty linen in public. The Daily Telegraph read the Pastoral Letter with 'respectful melancholy'.

So you see some things like criticism never change. Although I guess many whose views were so negative after the first Conference would be astounded to see us gathered today for the 13th Lambeth Conference. So many bishops from different parts of the world; so many spouses, who will share their own separate Programme. Such is the growth of our Communion. They would also be surprised to see women bishops among that number for the first time. And I want to say as president how glad I am to welcome them.

As we gather, then, I want to share with you my personal hope and longing that all of us may be led into a more radical discipleship shaped by God's transforming power through the renewal of our lives.

For many months now there has been only one biblical image in my mind that I have wanted to share with you. It is the one in the penultimate chapter of the Revelation of St John where St. John describes the Christian vision of God. A glorious picture of the city of God-Alpha and Omega-in the midst of his people with the triumphant cry: 'Behold, I make all things new!'

And there is an extraordinary irony about it, isn't there, that we can all recognise and appreciate. There is John on the island of Patmos, surrounded by an uncrossable sea - at least for him, in enforced exile - given such visions of the grandeur and holiness of God with the fierce denunciations of all that opposes the rule and reign of God. No doubt, as with us, there was much to encourage him, God was at work in the world, the Church was growing, the faithfulness of people was extraordinary and the grace of God at times almost palpably present. But there were also discouragements and disappointments. He was in prison, after all. He knew all about the discouragement of persecution, the disappointment when people let you down, and when at times God himself seems at times remote.

And we can identify with this theme of blessing and disappointment. Since we met 10 years ago there have been many blessings we can recount. Who could have forecast in 1988 that within eighteen months European Communism as a great ideological power would come crashing down with the toppling of the Berlin Wall? Who could have foreseen then that within a few years the political reality of apartheid in South Africa would cease, without civil war? Who would have believed that even now, amidst all that still threatens us today, that we could be on the verge of peace in Northern Ireland? Who would have believed that one of the results of the last Conference, the call to make the 90's a 'Decade of Evangelism,' could in so many Provinces have been so effective? We have been blessed and we have been surprised by the goodness and generosity of God.

Yet, there have been many disappointments as well. We have seen the country of Rwanda broken through bitter racial conflict and our own Church there sadly torn in two. Though we are delighted that our Church in Rwanda is now whole, we mourn the fact that over 800,000 were murdered in that genocide. The war in the Sudan continues to rage and as a result the land of Sudan has too many widows and too many orphans. We are glad to note the ceasefire which was agreed last week to allow aid to reach the suffering people of Bakr El Gazel. But what is required is an end to the war and a lasting peace based on justice and freedom for all. I hope our Conference will send a strong message to the Sudanese Government and to the SPLA.

Poverty and starvation stalk too many of the lands where Anglicans serve; the AIDS virus is a curse in too many countries; it blights the lives of millions. Ignorance and lack of educational opportunities hold back millions of young people. We are told by the President of the World Bank who will join us on Friday that 'three billion people live under two dollars a day. One billion three hundred million live on under one dollar a day. One hundred million go hungry every day. One hundred and fifty million never get the chance to go to school'. They are the terrible, awful statistics behind the issue of the relief of the burden of unpayable debt which will focus as a major element in this Conference.

And this is our world. This is the world in which we work and and live, the world in which we are called to serve and witness.

And who has not known discouragement and disappointment not only in the world in which we work, but in doing the tasks we have been set? Even when our circumstances are undramatic, so often we seem to see so little for our toil. We can feel marginalised, especially if our declaration of the love and sovereignty of God is ignored or brushed aside.

These experiences are ones that all Christians of every generation must in honesty wrestle with. None of us is immune from them and to those who have come to this Conference worn out, clapped out, physically, mentally or spiritually, may I encourage you to use this time for personal refreshment through worship, through silence, through conversations and through prayer. Don't spend too much of your time rushing from one activity to another-or queuing for food for that matter-that you miss out on what God wants most to give you. Spiritual health, my brothers and sisters, is just as vital to seek as physical health.

Yet, if the experience of disappointment and discouragement is part of our Christian vocation and one which I hope we will honestly share one with the other, woe betide us if we confine ourselves over the next three weeks to self pity or mere introspection. Even when evil seems to prevail in so many places, and in so many ways, the challenge before us is to bring to the world an authoritative vision of the God of love and justice who is the beginning and end of all things. The God who declares: 'Behold, I make all things new,' is the same Lord who called an earnest, searching rabbi called Saul, to say after his conversion to the Roman Christians after his conversion: 'Be transformed by the renewal of your mind'. He is the same Lord, too, who is the unseen President of our Conference and who calls us to be transformed people with a vision for renewal.

So what might this mean in practical terms for those of us gathered here? May I suggest there are four main areas on which we need to focus: The Renewal of our Vision, our Church, our Mission and our Vocation as Bishops.

First is required a renewal of our vision. Irenaeus, the great second-century bishop and theologian, had a wonderful vision of God and his activity in the world. It is one we should foster too. For him Christ had redeemed all things. All things were reaching forward to their consummation when 'God will be all in all.' That is a breathtaking vision when one recalls that Irenaeus was the Bishop of tiny Christian congregations in what is now southern France, in the midst of great hostility and, at times, persecution. Faced with such trials, Irenaeus' response was not to surrender to despair or disappointment but rather to go deeper into an understanding of God whose will it is to 'gather all things in heaven and on earth up into Christ'. Irenaeus' ministry, in spite of the truly awful context in which it was set, is a challenge to us in our own day, with its unmistakable optimism in God. He wrote:

For just as God is always the same, so the human being who is found in God always progresses towards God. Nor shall God at any time cease from bestowing benefits and riches on humankind; nor shall humankind cease from receiving these benefits and from being enriched by God. For the human being which is grateful to its creator is the vessel of his goodness and the instrument of his glorification. (AH IV. 11.1-2)

What a mind-stretching vision of God's generosity and goodness! And in it he gives us a key to how we, in this Conference, a family of Christian leaders, may be transformed in our ministry together and in our ministry individually. That key is a heartfelt, simple gratitude to our God: gratitude practised daily, gratitude practised hourly; gratitude which makes us vessels of living praise. For it makes useven us! - 'vessels of God's goodness' and 'instruments' by which God will be glorified. That is the first - wonderful - task of this Conference: to be a place of transformation and of renewed vision, for the sake both of God's Church and, still more importantly, of the world.

It is all too easy to lose the big picture in the detail of busy ministries. In one of Alec Vidler's books he comments: 'Men connect the church, not with the disturbing and renewing encounter of a Holy God, but, as someone has said, with "unattractive services, tedious homilies, the smell of hymn books, the petty round of ecclesiastical functions, the collection bag, an oppression due to lack of oxygen and memories of Sunday school"'.

And, so often, that narrow kind of experience has cut people off from the powerful reality of the Christian faith. Here in this Conference, we have the opportunity to bring and share with each other all the distresses, as well as the joys, of the cultures from which we come; all the different understandings, and divisions of the Anglican Communion, as well as all that unites us. All these we can bring to be transformed by the power of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we celebrate in gratitude; gratitude to our Sovereign God who makes of it all something quite new, something which declares his goodness.

So, it is my hope that we too will talk about our theology as much as the issues that confront us because solutions will only emerge from a real encounter in gratitude with our living God.

And isn't this a particular challenge for Section One with its gaze on 'Being fully Human?' This Section will have a particularly busy time with so many controversial issues: the environment, freedom, and international debt-to say nothing of human sexuality!

I hope, of course, that we will see real progress being made over the three weeks as we seek to listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. The danger may be, however, of a too rapid immersion in the issues with the result that the true scale of divine reality is forgotten as we focus on the detail. May I urge us all to spend as much time on a truly grand theology of the awesome beauty, might and wonder of God as we will on the relatively minor questions we constantly ask about the way that we should behave in relation to his glory and goodness. The many world problems we face will be discovered in their true perspective only if we look at them steadily in the context of our grateful certainty of God's sovereign love; the God who can transform what is deathly and death-dealing within us; the God who is 'working his purposes out as year succeeds to year'.

Which leads me to my second point. For as well as a renewal of our vision we must determine to seek a renewal of our Church. Here we need, I believe, to begin with a glad acknowledgement of, and deep gratitude for, the goodness of the Church and the grace of God brought to us through her. The missionary to India, E. Stanley Jones, used to say: 'I love my mother in spite of her wrinkles!' And we love the Church because through her we found faith in Christ, hope, blessing and renewal. We must not number ourselves among those who despise her, denigrate her or speak ill of her. I am sometimes very sad when fellow Anglicans mock our Church, publicly and criticise her unfairly. When we do so we are not following our Lord who 'loved the Church and gave himself for her'. She is indeed, 'that stretched magnificence' in Edwin Muir's tribute to the Church through the centuries.

And from that context of love for God's Church and through our theological wrestling, working with those of different traditions to our own, we shall, I believe, discover new and unexpected riches. It was Archibald Tait, the Bishop of London and later Archbishop of Canterbury, who commented ironically just over a century ago in the midst of the disputes surrounding the publication of a book entitled Essays and Reviews: 'The great evil is that the liberals are deficient in religion, and the religious are deficient in liberality. Let us pray for an outpouring of the very spirit of truth.'

And let us also pray for the renewal of the Church through an outpouring of that same Spirit. In a world where so many people talk in extreme terms, and claim that their perception of the truth is the only one that counts, let us remember that we have always been a Communion where diversity and difference has been cherished and, indeed, celebrated. Brian Davis, formerly Archbishop of New Zealand, who died just a few weeks ago, and is greatly missed by us all, wrote these splendid words in his book The Way Ahead: 'The Anglican Church, whilst not claiming to be the definitive form of Christianity, has the advantage of maintaining the faith and order of the ancient Catholic tradition, as well as the freedom and evangelical spirit of the Protestant tradition. The Anglican via media, or middle way, has encouraged the growth of tolerance, freedom and generosity of spirit. We are not a coercive institution but depend on friendly persuasion. Within our decision-making structures we know, most of the time, how to argue and fight fairly. We are also an inclusive church, welcoming those whose faith is fragile and uncertain, as well as those whose faith is strong and heroic' (204).

But, lest I should be misunderstood, I am not arguing for some kind of Anglican comprehensiveness that is vague and woolly or is uncertain about the foundations of our faith. Indeed not. We have a firm hold on a historic credal faith, earthed in Holy Scripture. This is primary and pivotal and there are boundaries to our faith and morals which we cross at our peril. In the splendid words of our Virginia Report: 'Anglicans affirm the sovereign authority of the Holy Scriptures as the medium through which God by the Holy Spirit communicates his word in the Church and thus enables people to respond with understanding and faith. The scriptures are 'uniquely inspired witness to divine revelation' and 'the primary norm for Christian faith and life.'

But it is important to go on to the next section of the Virginia Report: 'The scriptures, however, must be translated, read, and understood, and their meaning grasped through a continuing process of interpretation. Since the 17th century Anglicans have held that scripture is to be understood and read in the light afforded by the twin contexts of 'tradition' and 'reason.'

And, of course, that doesn't mean that we use terms like 'tradition' and 'reason' as 'cop- outs' to do whatever we want! What it does mean is that there is an interplay of bible, tradition and reason which never undermines the primacy and authority of scripture.

As Bishop Rowan Williams said in his address this morning: 'The rock is Christ and we dig deeply into that rock.' A theology which wrestles with the text of scripture in the light of the faith of the Church through the ages, the scrutiny of reason and the experience of Christians in the Church and world today is what I believe we should be working at over these next three weeks. And wherever those discussions may take us, let us never forget that it is people, our brothers and sisters in Christ, who will be deeply affected by whatever stance we take.

Now, I have said already that there are boundaries beyond which we cannot stray if we are to be true to all we have received and to ourselves as Anglicans today. But, saying that is to invite the question: 'If the Anglican Communion is a family of interdependent churches, and the Lambeth Conference has no binding doctrinal force, in what sense can we speak of the Anglican Communion?'.

And here we will need to face head on both the strength and the weakness of our form of ecclesial structure. Its perceived weakness in the eyes of some is that it is not a hierarchical, monarchical form of 'top down' authority. In the absence of any universal structures of collegiality that could determine how each Province should act there are those consequently who want to give the Archbishop of Canterbury a more 'monarchical' role. Now, not only has our Communion rejected this option firmly, but so has every Archbishop of Canterbury in recent years! But if we shy away from such centralising authority in the See of Canterbury, we also tend to shy away from the empowering of the other bonds of unity-the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates Meeting and the Lambeth Conference. In them we place structures for consultation but not for making juridical decisions that are binding on the Communion as a whole.

Thus, if we meet as a fellowship of self-governing, national churches, in what realistic form can we claim to be a 'Communion'?

The answer is found, I believe, in what we share and hold in common. A common heritage of doctrine, faith, liturgy and spirituality; an understanding of authority as expressed through a 'dispersed,' rather than centralised authority; episcopal leadership exercised in conjunction with synodical government. We make no apology for this form of polity which has real strengths because the conciliar forms of consultation are strong and rich.

In the closing words of his excellent book Unashamed Anglicanism, Bishop Stephen Sykes states that: 'The natural mode of (Anglican) ecclesiology is to allow debate, disagreement, and conflict as a normal part of its life. It will provide a structure for the God-given gift of insight and leadership and for understanding and consent; and that structure will be appropriate to differing patterns of authority in different cultures at various times.'

Yes, this is open to the charge of 'untidiness' and 'incoherence.' Nevertheless we can defend our position proudly because the alternatives remain authoritarianism and the stifling of individual conscience. And if, as John Henry Newman once remarked, 'every organisation seemed to start with a prophet and end up with a policeman,' it seems we have successfully avoided this criticism.

Nonetheless, we need to treasure our Communion as a gift from God and also to pay attention to the tension between the 'local' and the 'universal.' To be in communion means that the 'local church' both expresses and encompasses the faith of the universal church. Indeed, that is exactly what it means to be 'catholic.' And for Dioceses, Provinces and the Communion itself, it means to keep in step; to maintain unity at all times. To quote Dr Paul Avis in the current edition of Theology: 'To practice the grace of walking together without coercive constraints is the special vocation of Anglicanism in our pluralistic world'.

In the light of these reflections there are many practical questions we need to address if we are to be open to God's renewing Spirit. How may we stay together when difficult decisions threaten to divide us? How may we be more effective leaders of our Provinces, Dioceses and Churches? Again, the Virginia Report asks searching theological and practical questions about our structures that I trust this Conference will address properly and responsibly.

As we do so, we need to remind ourselves that Anglicanism has never regarded itself as a final form of Christianity. As with many Churches, we look ahead to God's promise of a transformed and renewed Church when we shall all be, visibly, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. That destiny beckons us on even if we cannot yet see the character of that unity and the programme it will take. Over the last 10 years much progress has been made both in our theological conversations with other churches and in the deepening of lived relationships. The Resolution in 1988 to deepen our dialogue with the Lutheran Churches has led to the Porvoo Agreement between the Lutheran Churches of the Nordic and Baltic region and the Anglican churches of these islands. We thank God for that and are so pleased to have a number of Lutheran bishops from those Churches with us. We rejoice too at the continuing theological dialogue between ECUSA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and we are pleased to note as well the movements towards unity between Lutherans and Anglicans in Africa and Canada. Indeed, whether one looks internationally to our relationships with the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox or, in this country, to those with the Moravians and the Methodists, there is much to celebrate in the ecumenical journey of closer co-operation, deepening friendship, frank consultations and creative theological dialogue and convergence. Much needs to be done, but none can deny the progress we have made together. It is a mark of the power of God's Spirit at work among us.

But, and this is my third main point, there also needs to be a renewal of our mission. Ten years ago, this Conference issued the invitation to make the 90's a decade of evangelism. It was an inspiring and necessary call in the main directed by our African brothers. Now as I travel the Communion it is clear that many Provinces have responded to that invitation brilliantly, with energy and enthusiasm and we can chalk up some significant successes as we have opened ourselves to a process of renewal.

For instance, we have at last put an end to the puzzling divide espoused by some of forcing a choice between 'mission or evangelism.' We are clear now there is no 'or.' It is mission and evangelism. We are called to proclaim Christ and we exist for mission. The narrower task of making disciples and leading them to baptism is well and truly placed within the task of sharing God's mission to the entire world. How my heart was moved three years ago by one of the Sudanese bishops here with us today, who spoke of the problem of preaching the Gospel in the refugee camps outside Khartoum, which my wife and I were visiting with him: 'You see, Archbishop,' he said hesitantly, 'We have a saying 'empty stomachs have no ears.' That kind of compassion is central to any vision of the mission of a transformed church. People need to be fed physically as well as spiritually, and a Church that exists for God in his world must be prepared not only to spread the Gospel but also to press for action on the great issues confronting our world, whether they are to do with International Debt or the Environment. That is part of what it is to be involved in God's mission and it is something we neglect at our peril.

But evangelism must not to be avoided either, even if, as Anglicans, we have often found it quite difficult in the past. We are called to be evangelists in the line of Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury who came to this country in such fear and humility 1400 years ago. Our apostolic message, in the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians is to say to all people: 'Be reconciled to God.'

So too we have been learning that it is love that is the most important ingredient if we wish to be effective missionaries and evangelists. There are techniques of evangelism, to be sure, but the 'charism' of love is the main channel through which the majority of converts will come. They will come through the devotion of worship; through the love and graciousness we offer those searching hesitantly for faith. As the former Primate of Canada, Ted Scott, wrote: 'Nothing is really true unless love is involved in it'. Words echoed by the Welsh Anglican poet, R.S. Thomas, who, reflecting on the dangers of loveless evangelism, wrote:

'They listened to me preaching the unique Gospel
Of love, but our eyes never met'.

Aggressive, insensitive evangelism or prosyletism has never been our style, and God forbid that we should ever adopt it; but love for others is surely where true discipling begins. And if we are hesitant evangelists, then let us begin with loving the world for Christ's sake, and let that lead us to sharing what that love means in a world hungry for it.

Let me also this stress the importance of 'the local' in the task of mission and evangelism. I want to affirm and encourage Provinces in continuing to develop their own traditions and express worship and faith in their own culture. I have often said, jokingly of course, to those Provinces influenced by the English Church in the last century: 'Be less English! Be more African or Asian or South American. Let your own traditions, music, and ways of devotion enrich your life!' And I am so delighted that this is happening and we, here in the more established parts of the world where Christianity first took root, are beginning to learn from your experiences, as we see your faith, your joy and your love for our Lord. By empowering and celebrating the local we enrich the whole.

I believe that we are also beginning to learn as a Communion that evangelism and dialogue belong together. For the first time in the history of Lambeth Conferences there will be a plenary specifically given over to our relations with Islam and I was delighted that representatives of other faiths were present at our Opening Service. There can be no doubting the importance of inter-faith dialogue and co-operation, for the peace and well-being of the World. It is important, too, as a number here will remind us from their own experience, for those Provinces where Christians are in a minority and where, sometimes, to be a Christian is to face persecution.

But dialogue, co-operation and friendship with those of other faiths need not deaden the nerve of mission. My personal journey in inter-faith relations in recent years has yielded a rich harvest of appreciation of what we have in common with people of other faiths. I count many of them as friends. But this does not compromise the specificity of the Christian revelation. We hold Jesus Christ as the one Saviour of the world and we invite all to honour him as Lord for it is a faith given to us to share with all. We are called to be unapologetic about the claims of Christ. That is our message and that is the transforming heart of the Church's teaching.

Of course, the way we witness to our Lord is very dependent on the context we are in, but fundamental to all contexts must be an invitation to consider the claims of Christ and it means in turn respect and dialogue with those with whom we disagree.

There will be no transformed Church and no renewed Mission if to echo R.S. Thomas once again: eyes do not meet in friendship, welcome, understanding and kindness. Indeed, it did not escape several of the early Church Fathers that 'Chrestos'-kindness-was but a vowel difference from 'Christos', Christ, the anointed one. Respect, courtesy, kindness and gentleness are part of the true structures of faith through which the grace of God comes shining through.

But my fourth and final point is this. As people called by God to hold a particular office in his Church we must seek the renewal of our Vocation. For as leaders, we can function either as a barrier or as a channel. If we are not transformed, corporately and individually, through that constant practice of gratitude for a loving, sovereign Lord, his vision for his Church and his people will never become a reality. Ten days ago I had the immense privilege of unveiling the statues of ten 20th Century Martyrs which now form part of the West Front of Westminster Abbey. Some like Janani Luwum, Martin Luther King and Oscar Romero exercised leadership on behalf of many. Others like Esther John, Manche Masemola, Wang Zhiming or Lucian Tapiedi are little known outside their own countries and churches. Yet all died a martyr's death, and all knew what it was to be a servant of Christ and an effective channel for his Spirit.

One of my hopes for this Conference is that through mutual counsel, spiritual encouragement and the sharing of visions for the advancement of Christ's kingdom, we will become more effective channels for God's Spirit to work through. And that means facing up to the challenge of renewal and transformation for ourselves. Ours is to be a ministry of service, following the pattern laid down by Our Lord in washing his disciples feet. Now at times, we can be tempted by an office dignified by the trappings of robes and ornate pageantry. Some have further identified episcopacy with a lofty style of autocratic leadership. But we must never avoid the real challenges of episcopal leadership. For that challenge is to follow our Lord in such simplicity of discipleship that our goodness, our holiness, our humility is there for all to see.

I noticed that, in the regional response from the Province of Central Africa, this statement of Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali is quoted: 'We need to pray earnestly that humble men and women of God will emerge as Christian leaders-leaders whose authority derives from their humility and service; who persuade but do not coerce; who free Christians to exercise the gifts which the Holy Spirit has given them; who make the gospel attractive to the millions who need to believe but are sceptical of the church's structures'.

Together at this Conference let us seek a fresh vision of Christ-centred leadership. For there is a true glory in such leadership-and I have seen it again and again as I have travelled the Anglican Communion. Humble, sacrificial, devoted service continues. On behalf of the whole Anglican Communion I want to say to you, my fellow Bishops: Thank you. Thank you for giving yourselves so fully and completely to God. Thank you for the ways in which you serve his people. Thank you for the evidence of martyrism in your own country. May the example of those martyrs, and the many others through the centuries who have given their lives to, and for Christ, continue to inspire us.

So, my brothers and sisters, this theme of transformation whether of our Vision, our Church, our Mission or our Vocation must be central to all we shall be doing together here in this place. I thank God for the gift of communion and especially for the Gift of our Communion. With so many threatening divisions in our world and the anger, hatred, distrust and cynicism which erodes real community, let us enjoy our fellowship and life as a gift from the gracious and generous God we worship. Let us treasure it and put it to good use these precious three weeks.

Beyond all the excellent elements that will make up our Conference and the Spouses' Programme; worship, bible study, group work, seminars, section work, friendships, plenaries, meetings and eating and drinking, there rests and remains the ultimate victory that God is and in him is the triumph and the victory. Sadly, the world, and even some parts of the Church, have lost sight of that ultimate mobilising vision; that we, and all things, are not the random pawns of a futile universe which will come to an end either in a big bang or a whimper. Rather, we need to remind ourselves constantly, that one day, as in Irenaus' Vision, Christ will be all in all.

The Gospel is about new and certain life; about the power which created the universe and raised Christ from the dead; about the power which promises transformation of our world, our church and all of us gathered here. This is the fundamental conviction on which this Conference rests. That is the certainty in which we shall do all our work in these next three weeks. That is the glorious power in which we shall go back to our churches and in the world in which we live. And may we look forward with expectancy and declare with John that God does and will 'make all things new'. May that vision transform and inspire us.