Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG

Lambeth Diary: 'My Lambeth Heaven'

From a personal point of view, Lambeth 2008 was a huge success. There was a fantastic atmosphere in the press room, there was no shortage of stories, the communications team did their best to help us in quite difficult conditions and the sun shone nearly the whole time. My juggling of work and family also came off better than it ever has before. I wrote about it for the Church of England Newspaper, where I was a temporary stand-in for regular columnist Catherine Fox who was on holiday, and have reproduced it below. Pictures by Rebecca Musgrave, our temporary nanny for Lambeth, pictured here with Arthur. Rebecca is about to go off on her gap year before uni. We also had invaluable help in the first few days from our Spanish au pair Rebecca Higueras, who's back in Spain for the summer but will be returning in September. Thank you both Rebecca's for your wonderful input. Without you both, the last three weeks just would not have been possible.

Lambeth Diary: 'Whispers of Discontent'

Praise the Lord the End is Nigh. A few hours more and I'm outta here. This is me pictured ten minutes ago by BabyBlue on the lawn outside Darwin College where we've all been happily imprisoned for two-and-a-half weeks. We're still here but now we're contemplating The End, if not of the Anglican Communion at least of the Lambeth Conference. These are my latest offerings for the paper. The Archbishop of Canterbury facing a rebellion from some of his bishops, and a commentary on the conference so far, themed on the Harold Wilson-style 'Whispers of Discontent' starting to circulate around Dr Williams.

Lambeth Diary: Some Reflections

The fourth draft of the  Lambeth reflections document has now been published. You can read it all here and I've posted some of extracts below. Susan Russell of Integrity has commented on it. In this video, made for Times Online by Joanna Clegg, some leading conservatives comment on polygamy and other matters that have come up at Lambeth.

Lambeth Diary: Bishops back Rowan

The Archbishop of Canterbury has the overwhelming support of bishops at the Lambeth Conference, according to a survey for The Times. Few bishops support the idea of solving the church's differences by changing the Communion to a looser federation. Three-quarters of those at the conference are happy with Dr  Rowan Williams' leadership. See our story on this and the ENI interview with Rowan,now online.

Religious Intelligence surveyed 100 of the 670 bishops at the conference for The Times. Full results are reproduced below. Our own leader this morning backs Dr Williams, and our report shows the strong concern that remains among the bishops over sexuality. Bess Twiston-Davies has also been compiling panels of bishops' comments for The Times, here and here.

This and all other pics in this post by Tim Stubbings of Panoptica.

Lambeth Diary: 'When did you last beat your wife, Bishop?'

Context counts for so much. New York suffragan bishop is pictured here, speaking at the daily Episcopal Church briefing. The subject was domestic violence. Our resulting story is here. We also report today on Cardinal Kasper's address yesterday to the bishops, in which he said any hope of Rome recognising Anglican orders was 'finally at an end.' A translation of the speech in full can now be read here.

You would think from this picture that anyone who took on British Catherine would be brave or foolish. But you would be wrong. Scroll on down.

Lambeth Diary: Rowan accused of 'betrayal'

In a comment piece in tomorrow's Times, the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Orombi, will accuse the Arcbishop of Canterbury of a betrayal at the very deepest level. He will argue that even the Pope is elected by his peers, but Dr Williams in his office is little better than a remnant of colonialism. 'The spiritual leadership of a global communion of independent and autonomous Provinces should not be reduced to one man appointed by a secular government,' he says. Nor is the absence of Uganda, Nigeria and other Global South churches a sign that they want to leave the Communion. Far from it. It is a sign of how much they care that it endures. Read it all from when it goes online at 2100 BST and in the paper tomorrow, it is strong stuff!

(Update: AB Orombi's article is now available here, and see also our news story from the conference for that day.)

Lambeth Diary: 'Photodram'

Apologies for not posting a blog for an entire day. The weather was too hot and sultry and I was too tired, although I did manage to write a story for the paper which I'll try to do something on shortly. Thank you Herb Gunn, campaigner on behalf of African women and who did the interview with Bp Roskam that we write about two blogs hence, for this picture. There was a barrier erected to prevent journalists or other observers from getting this picture at the official conference photograph, but I snuck under it for a few seconds. Scroll down to see what happened next.

(Update: Just before you do that, a story is unfolding here of one bishop who wasn't registered but turned up anyway, assumed the name of a friend who was registered but wasn't here, and has attended the entire conference under his friend's name! Can anyone tell me who this imposter bishop is?)

Lambeth Diary: Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet

Bible Study with Joanna Clegg

In the account of “Jesus washing the disciples’ feet” we probably witness the most potent demonstration of effective leadership.  In some respects, it is very simple, it is about leading by example (chapter 13 verse 15) - the kind of tactic a politician will employ when riding their bicycle to work at the height of public concern for the environment.  We glance over it in the newspapers, a reporter comments in a sardonic tone, as an aside, and there is an unspoken concurrence accompanied by rolling eyeballs; that old trick again.  In today’s media-age it is nigh-on impossible for anyone in any position of authority to do anything, without it being played back, dissected, and churned up again.  And it’s all there, on camera – that look, that word, proof of their heinous faux pas.

Lambeth Diary: Shepherding the Flock

Bible Study with Joanna Clegg

On Monday, as the Bishops considered John chapter 10, we also looked at what Jesus meant when he said ‘I am the Good Shepherd’.  Shepherding was a common profession in the Middle East (for many it still is), and those who have witnessed rural farming procedure abroad, have marvelled at the manner in which a flock of sheep will recognise the call of their own master. Even amongst rival flocks, mass bleeting and cries for attention; even in the heat of the day and tussling alongside the mountains, vying for grass or dodging wolves, the sheep knows the call of its master.  But, we know enough about nature to suppose that this fact about sheep is a point of minor interest – there are far more exotic or intricate wonders afoot in the world around, which would surely better testify to the glory of God...

Lambeth Diary: Rowan begs, 'Choose Life'

Incredibly powerful address from Rowan Williams to bishops at Lambeth tonight. 'At the moment, we seem often to be threatening death to each other, not offering life,' he says.'What some see as confused or reckless innovation in some provinces is felt as a body-blow to the integrity of mission and a matter of literal physical risk to Christians.  The reaction to this is in turn felt as an annihilating judgement on a whole local church, undermining its legitimacy and pouring scorn on its witness.  We need to speak life to each other; and that means change.  I’ve made no secret of what I think that change should be — a Covenant that recognizes the need to grow towards each other (and also recognizes that not all may choose that way).  I find it hard at present to see another way forward that would avoid further disintegration.  But whatever your views on this, at least ask the question :  ‘Having heard the other person, the other group, as fully and fairly as I can, what generous initiative can I take to break through into a new and transformed relation of communion in Christ?’ Read it all below. Our brief report on it is here. Picture Scott Gunn.

Lambeth Diary: Chief Rabbi commands the crowds

The Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks spoke powerfully at the Lambeth Conference last night, as we report, and received a five-minute standing ovation. You can download his full text here . Picture Jim Rosenthal.

Lambeth Diary: 'Pastoral Forum' proposed

A new Pastoral Forum is to be set up to bring rebel provinces into line in the Anglican Communion. The bishops at Lambeth are presently discussing the third 'observations' document of the Windsor Continuation Group that sets out why the forum is needed. It says this is necessary because repeated requests for moratoria on gay consecrations, same-sex blessings and cross-border interventions have not been heeded. I've been given an advance copy of the document. It says: 'The failure to respond presents us with a situation where if the three moratoria are not observed, the Communion is likely to fracture.' The document says the moratoria are to be understood as 'retrospective'. The strong implication of this is that Gene Robinson must resign. How likely is that? A commentator at StandFirm, where Sarah Hey is busily transcribing the entire document, describes it as 'purple-shirted flatulence'.

Lambeth Diary: Storm clouds gather

Did any readers of this blog learn as a child the 'whether the weather' poem? Here's a reminder:

'Whether the weather be mild or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.'

It was perhaps precipitate of me to suggest on Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence, linked to by Kendall Harmon, that there has been a defining change of mood at the conference. When the sun came out last week, everything began looking sunny, bishops started smiling at each other and us, and a sunny outcome seemed on the cards. This picture shows a bishop under a shady tree talking on his mobile telephone. Climate change has been one of the main debates here, as Mary Schjonberg reports for Episcopal Life.

Lambeth Diary: Nigerian gay Christian activist granted asylum

Davis Mac-Iyalla, the Nigerian gay Christian activist, has been granted asylum by the UK government. He is living here with Nigerian friends in north London. His application was fast-tracked after he fled here from death threats and physical assault in Nigeria. He was held in detention for a week before his case was heard, and he fully expected more time in detention and was amazed to be set free. He learned on Friday that he had been granted asylum. This is extremely rare here and a clear indication of how seriously the British Government is taking the attacks and threats made against him in Nigeria. It will also surely send a signal to bishops meeting here about this whole issue, to be on the agenda of indaba groups this week. I am indebted to Integrity USA's monthly newsletter, published yesterday, for this news. The picture, taken at the Primates' Meeting at Dar es Salaam, shows Davis with the Primate of The Episcopal Church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, and Canadian Primate Archbishop Andrew Hutchison. See our story Monday on the views of people in the pews on the gay issue. For the full survey go to ComRes. Update: This is what Stephen Bates thinks about some of the comments on this blog...

Lambeth Diary: The 'Fifth Instrument'

Lambeth Diary: Colbert reports

Lambeth Diary: Rome says 'come hither' but not just yet

Rome is taking seriously the prospect of 'corporate unity' with traditional Anglicans but the message is: 'Not yet.' So says Cardinal Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in this letter. The Traditional Anglican Communion's Primate, Archbishop John Hepworth, is rumoured to be heading to Lambeth this week. Read Hepworth's response to his flock here. Meanwhile, the Moscow patriarchate has now criticised the conference for failing properly to address the key issues at stake, which everyone is describing as the 'elephant in the room.' It's a three letter word beginning with 's'. Expect more numinous sparks to fly next week.

Lambeth Diary: Walk and Witness

Joanna Clegg, the Oxford theology student working with The Times on work experience throughout the Lambeth Conference, shot this video for us on Thursday's march. Regular readers will know that during the Lambeth Conference, she is keeping us sane in Times house in Harbledown with daily Bible studies round the pool at 8am. I hear from conference insiders that there is real and deep unhappiness with the standard of the Bible study texts the bishops are being forced to study. I'll try and get some written examples of the unbelieveable banalities that have reached my ears here. Meanwhile, unlike the 650 Anglican bishops imprisoned on this campus, apparently designed by prison architects with the prevention of student riots in mind, Times readers can enjoy the real thing, below, courtesy of Joanna, a pupil of the excellent Alister McGrath.

Lambeth Diary: Anglican 'Holy Office'

The Anglican Communion is on the rack and the torture continues. It surely cannot be stretched much longer before it is torn apart. This is the pic accompanying our online story at The Times.

'Fancy some same sex marriage? Better watch out then.... ' (Caption put on pic by someone at Times Online.)

The second observations document of the Windsor Continuation Group has just dropped. (Update: Anglican Mainstream now has the text online.) It gives more detail of the Principles of Canon Law Project, which we wrote about earlier and which is being talked of by primates as the 'Fifth Instrument of Communion'. I am told it will not be so much a Catholic-style 'Code of Canon Law' as a 'blueprint' of Canon Law. However, comparisons with the Roman Church will become even more inevitable because of another plan, to set up a new Faith and Order Commission.

Lambeth diary: Rival strategies unveiled

The bishops of The Episcopal Church have come to the Lambeth Conference well- briefed on how to present their arguments cogently and persuasively in the indaba groups. Dr Philip Turner, former Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, has written analysis of this for the Anglican Communion Institute, of which he is VP. The full briefing document is here . Common Cause Partnership, Bishop Bob Duncan's group, is petitioning Gafcon for province status, giving Gafcon virtual ecclesial authority. And I understand that when the next report of the Windsor Continuation Group is published next week, it will contain a 'bombshell' that will be pleasing to the conservative evangelial side but not so perhaps to the liberals. There is also news from the Anglican Mainstream fringe meeting at the conference last night. Conservative evangelical bishops, who we were asked not to name, were told: 'In indaba group after indaba group, find out how many people support resolution 1.10. [The one ten years ago that enforced a traditional, Biblical stance on gay sex.] I am putting my hand up in my indaba group, I invite my brothers and sisters to do the same when they get the opportunity.' So it appears, you can take indaba out of Africa, but you can't take good old democratic infighting out of the West. It's business as usual at Lambeth, and one way or another, these 650 bishops are determined to have a vote and make it count.

Picture from the Lambeth Conference Market Place by Richard Pohle.

The Lambeth Walk: Cantuar speaks

After marching against poverty, about 650 Anglican bishops and their wives enjoyed tea at Buckingham Palace. Read our news report and watch video of the march here. Afterwards, they had lunch in a large marquee at Lambeth Palace. There menu was cold lemon and thyme scented breast of chicken with fresh asparagus and porcini mushroom relish,
summer bean and coriander, tomato, basil and mozzarella served with hot minted new potatoes. Pudding was dark chocolate and raspberry tart with raspberry ripple ice cream, topped off with coffee and white chocolate raspberries. To wash it down they drank Pino Grigio or Chiraz or cranberry and elderflower fruit punch. The cream marquee was decorated with a dozen chandeliers down the middle. Bishops were apparently amazed and thyy know their hospitality. There were orange roses and fans at the side but it was still steaming. Bishops fanned themelves with menus. There were long queues for the plush portable loos with solid wooden flooring, designer handwash and handcream.

Note: the Lambeth Conference is suffering a financial shortfall of between £1 million and £2 million, which is of course nothing to the debt owed by many of the countries represented by the bishops at the lunch.

Cantuar slays 'dragon' of Gafcon

Watch our video.

Shot in the Market Place at Lambeth Conference, Canterbury.

See also our round-up of the views of different bishops at Lambeth.

Lambeth Diary: 'Gene must resign, US church must go'

Lambeth Diary: Into the 'Miry Pit' of Chaos.

It's about a hundred degrees and getting hotter in the Big Top at Lambeth but the £1 million black hole in the budget at the Lambeth Conference means they can't afford air conditioning. Expect fainting bishops to be ferried out by ambulances any moment now, if they don't start shooting each other first. The press conference this morning was a farce. Communications officers who are generally being extremely helpful declined to comment on who is here for reasons of 'security' but declined to say what the 'security' issues were. Apparently there are some Nigerian bishops at the conference but we are not allowed to know who they are. Even the totally harmless and innocuous Church Press here are  being denied access to the evening Eucharists. As for me, I was told yesterday that it was worth applying to attend the afternoon indaba groups. Today there is one called 'Never say No to Media',  led by Rev Dr Joshva Raha, tutor at the Centre for Mission Studies at Queen's, Birmingham. I applied and they said no.

The conference is falling apart and it is only day two of official business. The Sudanese bishops, who were, astonishingly, stationed as Salisbury with the US Presiding Bishop and her team before the conference, have almost derailed the whole thing by virtually calling for Gene Robinson's resignation. One of their two statements today is here.

Lambeth Diary: faith people 'moderate' on gays

This video is a brief report from the conference yesterday.

Also online today is the latest news report emerging from Anglican goings on.

Bible Study: the Eyes of the Serpent

Bible Study II with Joanna Clegg

Today’s bible study focuses on John chapter 3 verses 1-21 and considers the exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus on matters related to ancestry and spiritual inheritance, moving from the subject of Jesus’ identity (see chapter 1), to that of our own, as we ask: what does it mean to be ‘born again’?

Lambeth Diary: Gay Africans tell their stories

For today's story inThe Times go here. More detail below.

Lambeth Diary: Ecumenicals condemn 'with love'

The Archbishop of Canterbury is shown here at last night's ecumenical service chatting to Russia's Archbishop Hilarion and the Greek representative. Cardinal's Kasper and Diaz from Rome are not here yet. As we touch on at the end of our Sunday Times story today, the messages to Dr Rowan Williams from the guests were light incarnate, but this merely to sweeten the bitter pills within. Will the Anglican Communion take their medecine? I doubt it. The letters were helpfully printed at the end of the order of service, some extracts are below. See also Riazat Butt's excellent and fuller report in The Observer.

(Photo by George Conger. See his report in Christianity Today on the 'crack-up' of the Communion. Many thanks to Peter Crumpler and staff for finding a way at the final hour to get the grateful press into the service in the Big Top.)

Lambeth Diary: Invited bishop told: 'Go home!'

Ed Salmon, the former bishop of South Carolina who is either retired or on sabbatical, depending on which bit of the Church is doing the talking, was invited to the Lambeth Conference. He is 75 and he says he is retired. Nevertheless, he was delighted to be asked to come to Lambeth. The invites were sent out before he retired and he assumed this was because of the grey area surrounding his precise status at present. He booked his flights, hotels and so on. Just one week before he was due to come, he was told he wasn't invited after all. So he came anyway and I met him in the little flat in Canterbury where Anglican Mainstream has its hq. He and Gene Robinson, both uninvited bishops at the conference, are both here still, preaching God's word on the fringes.

Lambeth Diary: Boycotting primates hit back

Gafcon statement on Rowan Williams just in: 'Many are contending for and proclaiming the orthodox faith throughout the Anglican Communion. Their efforts are, however, undermined by those who are clearly pursuing a false gospel. We are not claiming to be a sinless church. Our concern is with false teaching which justifies sin in the name of Christianity. These are not merely matters of different perspectives and emphases. They have led to unbiblical practice in faith and morals, resulting in impaired and broken communion.  We long for all orthodox Anglicans to join in resisting this development.' See our story today on how the Archbishop of Canterbury is doing better than many imagine. The story is being updated for later editions to include reference to the Gafcon statement, produced in full below, along with the seven Primates' damning critique of the Covenant process. Akinola is leading the charge.

Summer of Schism: Archbishop calls for rethink on gays

Archbishop Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh and primate of All-Ireland, has perhaps not received the attention he has deserved since taking over from the high-profile Robin Eames, lead author of the Windsor Report. My mission today is to change that. He has this morning delivered a powerful and, I have to say, rather convincing address making the intellectual case for a new look at St Paul's texts on homosexuality. What is clever is that he has done this, not in the usual irritatingly woolly way we have come to expect from Anglican liberal bishops, but in a rigorous, faithful fashion, drawing directly on Richard Hooker's Lawes on Ecclesiastical Polity. This was of course the exact same text cited with such power by Uganda's primate Archbishop Henry Orombi at Gafcon. You can download the full address here and our story on this is now online. He was speaking at the USPG annual conference at Swanwick. Local clergy have condemned him as a 'false teacher', as the BBC's William Crawley reports on his blog.

Rowan Williams to celebrate 'secret' LGBT communion service

The Clergy Consultation has managed to get the Archbishop of Canterbury to celebrate a communion service and give a talk on 'present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church.' The consultation is a support organisation for male and female, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender clergy, religious, ordinands, seminarians and their partners. As we report, the meeting, so secret that the list of those attending was to be 'shredded once seen by the Archbishop', is on November 29 at St Peter's, Eaton Square where the Bishop of Salisbury's former chaplain, Nick Papadopulos, is the new Vicar. The meeting is being organised by Chris Newlands, chaplain to the Bishop of Chelmsford, and Christina Beardsley. It comes at a particularly sensitive time given that the Archbishop is travelling to the US this week to see what steps TEC bishops are taking in order to come in line with Windsor following the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson, pictured.

Speculation over whether Atwood et al to come to Lambeth

As we report, the two Bills, Atwood and Murdoch, have now been consecrated and are Anglican bishops, even if rather 'extraordinary' ones. Or irregular. Or even rather frightening, if this picture is anything to go by. (Lots more wonderful pics in Kevin's gallery.) The question now for me is whether they will be invited to the Lambeth Conference. It appears they might be. But then again, they might not. Thinking Anglicans has latest news reports. Meanwhile, in Peru, the Anglican diocese is struggling to feed 5,000 people a day after the recent earthquake. Which is the more important story, I wonder?

'Six of the best' for Rowan

See our report today on another Lambeth boycott threat, this time from none other than the mother ship herself. Up to 60 per cent of the CofE's bishops might boycott Lambeth, according to our fifth most senior bishop, Winton. And according to a George Conger, a third of all 800-plus bishops in the entire Communion is considering a boycott.

At the same time, Dr Rowan Williams was yesterday on leave from study leave, and is pictured here after installing the Archbishop of Kaduna, Dr Josiah Iduwu-Fearon, as a six preacher at Canterbury Cathedral. Predecessors in the post include Bishop John Robinson. One of ten Archbishops in Nigeria, Dr Iduwu-Fearon is an expert in particular on Christian-Muslim relations. Although conservative, he is regarded as something of a counterpart to the Nigerian Church leader Dr Peter Akinola.

Gene Robinson 'to be invited' to Lambeth, says ABC

A number of Anglicans in England have been writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury in protest at his decision to leave Gene Robinson off the invitation list to Lambeth. I have been 'leaked' one of the letters sent back in response. Signed by Canon Flora Winfield, of his office for International, Ecumenical and Anglican Communion Affairs, it reflects on the Archbishop's concern about the 'canonical impediment' to Bishop Robinson's consecration. The letter concludes: 'The Archbishop is therefore exploring inviting Bishop Robinson to the conference in another status.' Full text printed at the end of this post.

Lambeth Conference: Ndungane speaks

In an important speech flagged up on Anglican Mainstream, the Archbishop of Cape Town has warned that the Archbishops of the Anglican Church are in danger of becoming a new "Roman Curia" as they struggle to resolve their differences over homosexuality. The Most Rev  Njongonkulu Ndungane, said the 39 Primates who head the 38
provinces of the Anglican Communion were accruing too much power as they sought to set limits on what churches such as that of the US could do to advance the cause of homosexual equality. (Pic from TEC)

Lambeth Conference 'freebies'

The invitations for the Lambeth Conference are to go out at the end of this year. How do I know this? Not some reputable 'deep cassock' at the heart of the Anglican Communion I'm afraid, but the first-ever dedicated Lambeth Conference website. However, it was a well-informed source who indicated to me a few weeks back that everyone, including Gene Robinson and those who consecrated him, was to be invited. 'You might even be able to come, Ruth,' he said. (Update: a source indicates that the Global South bishops have written to the Archbishop warning that if Bishop Robinson is invited, they will not attend. At the same time, some English bishops are threatening to boycott the conference if Bishop Robinson is not invited.)