Press Releases04 Aug 08

Interviews from Lambeth: The Bishop of Meath & Kildare

Interviews from Lambeth: a series of interviews with the Church of Ireland bishops attending the conference

BRC: Because of a family illness, I wasn’t able to attend the whole conference, but I was there over the final few days and came back yesterday (Sunday 3/8/08). I suppose my experience was therefore one of being part insider and part observer. I felt that the best parts of the conference were the intimate bible study groups, where I met new people and experienced new insights. While the group had ‘bonded’ before my arrival, it was nonetheless easy to settle into the group and I was warmly welcomed. There were two Japanese, two American, one Scot (albeit from Northern Ireland – no prizes for guessing who that might have been!), one English and a West African in my group, so it was certainly diverse.

I’m not really sure that the ‘indaba’ groups, despite their name, were actually so very different to Anglo Saxon discussion groups, but I would say that the atmosphere was good overall. Of course, we can’t know what the conference would have been like if the ‘GAFCON bishops’ had been there, and I did get the impression that everyone was sorry that the conference was not complete.

Because I wasn’t there for the whole time, I would say that, for me, it wasn’t so much a time for getting to know new people as one for resuming and renewing old friendships. I attended the 1998 Lambeth Conference and I do feel that this was a more wholesome event than that.

PH: The final document of the conference – ‘Lambeth Indaba: Capturing Conversations and Reflections from the Lambeth Conference 2008’ – is not made up of resolutions; what are your thoughts on that?

BRC: The listening process involved a panel of listeners taking in what was said at the ‘indaba’ groups, then sifting this information and presenting it back to the whole body of bishops at hearings in order to get feedback. After these hearings – at which of course not everyone could possibly speak – the reflections were written up. A lot of the ‘heavy’ stuff was considered in the ‘indaba’ groups towards the end of the week. Now, it has to be acknowledged that the reflections had to be somewhat hastily written and that the process itself was not exactly scientific. So, I’m not sure what status can be accorded to the final document and, indeed, it is not one made up of a series of resolutions. That said, I think it offers the reflections on what was in fact a rather good conference.

PH: Now that the conference has drawn to a close, how would you sum it up?

BRC: People are very tired at the end of it! The programme was very full, perhaps even too full as one couldn’t attend everything one might have wanted. The morning Eucharists were very rewarding, demonstrating how the Anglican Communion is made up of quite different cultures yet which share at their heart the same gospel. 

While I was in Canterbury, I was able to attend Eucharists led by bishops from Pakistan, Burundi and Kenya. I was particularly taken with the final words of the address given by the Archbishop of Burundi, the Most Revd Bernard Ntahoturi, at the Eucharist. He was talking about the way of Jesus, and felt that Jesus was saying to us, ‘before the Anglican Communion was, I am’. I thought that was a very powerful statement and put a lot into perspective.

It was certainly worthwhile attending, even for the few days. My final thought is captured by what was said at my last ‘indaba’ group. Someone felt that we should – in Anglican fashion – ‘agree to disagree’, but we went on to conclude that this was not enough: rather, we’ll agree to go on loving one another. 

For further details about the Lambeth Conference, please click here.