Press Releases28 Jul 08

The Bishop of Connor talks about his role on the Reflections Group

The Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, talks to Church of Ireland Press Officer, Paul Harron, about his role on the Reflections Group at the Lambeth Conference.

PH: On Saturday (26/7/08), you were chosen as one of 16 bishops forming the Conference’s Reflections Group. Can you tell me what this is and how it came about?

BAA: This Reflections Group has been drawn up out of the 16 ‘indaba’ groups to reflect back to the conference what has been said. We consider what has emerged from the Conference under the distinct headings of the indaba group focus questions and draw up an outline for each theme. The chair is the Archbishop of Perth, Roger Herft, and we have a secretary to the group, Canon Gregory Cameron, an ACC staff member.

We met as a group twice on Saturday, twice yesterday and will meet again today. Our initial reflections will go to a hearing on Tuesday – it is, therefore, for the conference to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on our getting it right – and then the following day’s indaba groups will further consider our initial thoughts. Another hearing will follow and then it will be back to us to develop a final document, by Saturday (2/8/08) if that is possible. This document will effectively be the ‘mind of Lambeth 2008’.

My participation came about by nomination from within my indaba group, which felt I had appropriate listening skills. Our ‘animateur’ asked for three names from within the group: two volunteers, myself nominated (by the Bishop of Lincoln). This process happened in each indaba group. All the chosen names were then passed to the central conference design group which chose the final 16 to reflect both variations in theological outlooks and fair geographical representation.

I feel that it is good that the Church of Ireland is represented within the group, and indeed four Church of Ireland bishops were nominated to the group, but obviously we couldn’t take up four places in the end.

PH: Do you think the process will work?

BAA: We are trying to discern a common mind: to reflect what has been said and what isn’t being said (no easy task). We are not aiming to come up with a set of resolutions, but to try to discern the will of the Conference and hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

One could argue that this is stage management, but I feel it is all about processing – being part of a process which ensures that all voices are heard, not just extreme ones. This process can, I believe, help us find a way through.

It will change the dynamic of the indaba process for me personally during this week, as I will be much more an active listener and less a direct participant of the group. It will, however, be an exhilarating process and one which will take up absolutely all of what might have been free time this week!
The indaba groups are considering the following: Anglican identity; evangelism; social justice; other churches; the environment; witness in a multi-faith world; the bible in mission; human sexuality; the Anglican Covenant; and leadership in mission.

The Reflections Group is made up as follows:

• Alan Abernethy, Bishop of Connor (Church of Ireland)
• Andrew Proud, Bishop for the Horn of Africa (Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East)
• Howard Gregory, Bishop of Montego Bay (Church in the Province of the West Indies)
• Sue Moxley, Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (The Anglican Church of Canada)
• K.G. Daniel, Bishop of East Kerala (Church of South India)
• Patrick Mwachiko, Bishop of Masai (Anglican Church of Tanzania)
• James Ochiel, Bishop of Southern Nyanza (Anglican Church of Kenya)
• Johannes Seoka, Bishop of Pretoria (Anglican Church of Southern Africa)
• Ezekiel Kondo, Bishop of Khartoum (Episcopal Church of the Sudan)
• John Neil Alexander, Bishop of Atlanta (The Episcopal Church)
• Roger Chung Po Chue, Bishop of Antsiranana (Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean)
• Gerry Wolf, Bishop of Rhode Island (The Episcopal Church)
• David Njova, Bishop of Lusaka (Church of the Province of Central Africa)
• Bill Godfrey, Bishop of Peru (Anglican Church of the Southern Cone)
• Michael Perham, Bishop of Gloucester (Church of England)
• Louis Tsui, Bishop of Eastern Kowloon (Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui)