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650 Bishops, 550 spouses and 10 calls

Reflections

“I left the UK in August with a renewed hope for the future of the Anglican Communion, and for the future of our Diocesan community. Reassuringly, most of the conference’s 10 Calls resonate with existing areas of focus and ministry in our Diocese,” says Bishop Cam Venables

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We gathered…

From 27 July to 7 August 2022, 650 Bishops and 550 spouses gathered at the University of Kent in England for the 15th Lambeth Conference. Our theme was God’s Church for God’s World”.

Different to previous once-in-a-decade Lambeth Conferences, we operated in the following three phases:

During the 12 days of the Conference we:

The entire conference was a blessing and I have a number of highlights. I am very grateful that my wife, Kate, and I had the opportunity to participate in the Lambeth Conference together – we both came away energised and encouraged.

There were times when it felt like we were “speed dating” for 10 days because at each activity you introduced yourself to someone and they introduced themself to you and conversations would unfold about family and ministry context…and more! Old friendships were renewed, new friendships were made, and much respect developed for those serving in difficult and dangerous places.

The conference was intellectually stimulating, and I was particularly inspired by the Human Dignity call (in its uncomfortable naming of ongoing colonial legacy), the Environment and Sustainable Development call (drawing upon the work of Kenyan environmental activist Dr Wangari Maathai and the launching of the Communion Forest initiative), and the Science and Faith call (which calls for dialogue, education and research).

Kate Venables, Sue and Rachel Jimma

Kate Venables, Sue and Rachel Jimma participated in spouse activities while their Bishop husbands joined in the 2022 Lambeth Conference activities

I left the UK in August with a renewed hope for the future of the Anglican Communion, and for the future of our Diocesan community.

Reassuringly, most of the conference’s 10 Calls resonate with existing areas of focus and ministry in our Diocese, including the ACSQ Mission, Vision and Values (the Mission and Evangelism and Anglican Identity calls); child-safe policies and procedures (the Safe Church call); Angligreen, our schools and parishes, Baroona Farm and the Justice Unit (the Environment and Sustainable Development call); Anglicare, the Domestic and Family Violence Working Group, chaplaincies and our Reconciliation Action Plan (the Human Dignity call); and, the Vocations Task Force, AYCF Ichthus camps, St Francis College, Roscoe Library, FormedFaith, anglican focus, schools, parishes and ministries, such as Mothers Union, Mission to Seafarers and GFS – An Anglican Ministry (the Discipleship call).

It would be good to share the relevant papers with each of these groups and initiatives to identify what resonates, what inspires and what may need inclusion! For example, one call that seems to need better addressing is “Science and Faith” and I think it would be initially helpful to share this paper with the Anglican Schools Commission’s Director of Mission, and those who lead our Anglican schools.

A key takeaway of the conference for me was the potential gift of partner church relationships. It seemed that most of the Bishops I met and shared with were in some sort of partner relationship with another Diocese and the recurring refrain was that each participating Diocese found the relationship missionally helpful. Consequently, I think it would be worth exploring the possibility of the ACSQ establishing a partner church relationship with another Diocese, or maybe more than one! Possibilities to consider include Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands – partly because of geography, and partly because we have growing numbers of seasonal workers from these countries worshipping in our congregations. Another possibility to consider is a Canadian Diocese because of a perceived theological alignment and a shared call to Reconciliation with First Nations peoples.

I was also struck by the gratitude expressed by South Sudanese Bishops. In our Diocesan community, we are blessed with five Dinka-speaking congregations, and one that speaks Arabic. To better work with these congregations, and other multi-cultural congregations, the ACSQ appointed Bishop Daniel Abot early last year to serve as a Resource Church specialist. Inevitably Bishop Daniel’s ministry extends (by phone and online) to other congregations around Australia and word of this has spread through the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and is clearly much appreciated.

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