by Randall R. Lee
Lambeth Conference Communications

Calling for a re-commitment to the historic Anglican concern for the visible unity of the Church and also the unity of the human community, the draft report from Lambeth's Section Four identifies "humility, gentleness, patience and loving tolerance" as essential ecumenical tools.

Under the theme "Called to be One," the report highlights the three major topics considered by the section. 

Relations with other churches

The first chapter of the report summarizes significant developments in relationships with churches in communion, in local dialogues, regional efforts at cooperation, and discussions with councils of churches, especially the World Council of Churches. The report recognizes that the movement toward visible unity will result in the development of certain "anomalies," but that these anomalies "are rooted in the greatest anomaly, which is division within the Body of Christ."

Nevertheless, "visible unity is to point to the sort of life God intends for the whole of humanity, a foretaste of God's Kingdom," the report says. As in the past, Anglicans will be helped in their ecumenical work by re-affirming The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888, which the report calls "a dynamic for unity."

Turning to the theme of "New Churches and Independent Christian Groups," identified as an area of "growing concern" and addressed for the first time by a Lambeth Conference, the report rejects the simplistic terms of "pentecostal" and "fundamentalist" to describe these churches. Rather, the report identifies eight characteristics such as biblical literalism and "free and enthusiastic" worship. 

While many have experienced these churches with "a sense of threat," the report suggests that Anglicans might learn from them. Lessons could include how to train people to evangelise, more forcefully proclaim the Scriptures, and achieve greater clarity in moral teaching.

International relations

The third chapter of the report covers the work accomplished during the last decade in bilateral and multilateral conversations. A summary of Anglican international conversations with 10 church groups is included, along with a reflection on the important contributions of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.

All three themes contribute to one of the most controversial sections of the report, "Consistency and Coherence: Response and Reception," endorsing the proposal of the 1996 Agros Report for the establishment of an Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations. If approved, the report states, the commission will review regional ecumenical proposals "to ensure that they are consonant with an overall agreed vision of the goal of unity."