[Episcopal News Service – Canterbury, England] In his second keynote address to the bishops of the Anglican Communion on August 5, 2022, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the church should be “a place of revolution without violence,” taking bold action against the social injustices that afflict the poor and powerless.
Some 650 bishops representing 165 countries are attending the 15th Lambeth Conference, the first in 14 years, after past conferences typically were held once a decade.
In his later afternoon address, Welby expounded on some of the defining topics of the conference, which will end on August 7 with a closing service at Canterbury Cathedral. Churches, he said, are called to disrupt oppressive and exploitative systems, such as extreme economic disparities, resource hoarding and environmental destruction.
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“How can science serve the Kingdom unless we have those who can argue the claims of God based on the gifts God has given us in science and technology?” Welby asked. “How can we challenge the selfishness of the rich if we are unable to argue with economics in the power of the Spirit?”
In advance of the 2022 Lambeth Conference, Welby had said he hoped to unite the 85-million-member communion under common expressions of faith and social engagement, rather than focusing on debates over human sexuality that have divided bishops at past conferences. Instead, bishops were to come together around the theme “God’s Church for God’s World.” Aspects of that theme were have been presented in a series of 10 “Lambeth Calls,” including science and faith, mission and evangelism, interfaith relations, climate change and human dignity.
On August 2, in a closed session on the Lambeth Call on Human Dignity, Welby sought to bring the bishops closer together by affirming the sincerity and theological rigor of Anglicans on both sides of the divide over the extent of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church.
In his August 5 address, the second of three, he indirectly referenced the Anglican Communion’s internal disputes over sexuality, saying Anglicans must be “united” but not necessarily “unanimous.”
“The miracle that God has brought about in the church is not that like-minded people like each other, but that the most unlike people, love each other,” he said.
What is the Lambeth Conference?
Every bishop of the Anglican Communion is invited to the Lambeth Conference, which is convened by the Most Reverend Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury. The Lambeth Conference has met since 1867, happens once-a-decade, and is a significant event in the life of the Anglican Communion.
The conference will explore church and world affairs. Outcomes of the conference will shape the life of the Anglican Communion in the decade ahead.
The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion has no central authority figure or body. It is made up of 42 autonomous members or provinces. Each member church makes its own decisions in its own way.
However, their decision-making bodies are guided by recommendations from each of the four so-called Instruments of Communion
The Secretariat, also known as the Anglican Communion Office, based in London, England support Anglicans and Episcopalians worldwide to carry out any requests from the Instruments and work to enable members of the Anglican Communion to fulfil their calling to be God’s people in the world.
Church of the Redeemer
Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.
Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.
The Episcopal Church welcomes you.