26.07.2022
Archbishop of Dublin prepares for Lambeth Conference 2022
The Lambeth Conference 2022 takes place from July 27 to August 8.
Anglican bishops from around the globe are arriving in Canterbury today (Tuesday July 26) for the Lambeth Conference 2022. Convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the conference gathers bishops from across the Anglican Communion for prayer and reflection, fellowship and dialogue on church and world affairs.
This is a once in a decade gathering and the theme for Lambeth 2022 is ‘God’s Church for God’s world – walking, listening and witnessing together’.
Archbishop Michael Jackson is attending and he spoke about the Lambeth Conference at the end of the Cathedral Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Sunday morning. He also celebrated Holy Communion for St James’s Day in Holy Trinity Rathmines on Monday evening where he was blessed and commissioned by members of the parish ahead of Lambeth 2022.
Speaking in Christ Church Cathedral, the Archbishop said that the first Lambeth Conference took place in 1869 when 76 bishops attended. At that point, as now, the conference had two key foci.
Firstly, the conference is an opportunity for the coming together of Anglican bishops from across the world to pray and study together. This recognises the challenges of being a bishop which is a very solitary role with very limited support.
Secondly, the conference provides an opportunity to grapple collectively with difficult pastoral and theological issues. On this occasion that shared grappling and support will be focused on the study of 1 Peter. The Archbishop has invited the people of Dublin & Glendalough to read 1 Peter and journey with him throughout the time of Lambeth. (You can explore the Lambeth resources on 1 Peter here.)
Archbishop Jackson pointed out the connection of 1 Peter to Christ Church Cathedral, through the labyrinth. He said that at the heart of the labyrinth is an undressed stone pointing to a picture in 1 Peter. “The chief cornerstone is Jesus,” he said. “That cornerstone is rejected. The key to Christ Jesus is that there is no Emmaus Road without Calvary. The link to suffering is key to our understanding of who we are.”
The Archbishop explained the Lambeth Calls noting that a lot of our understanding of Anglicanism is both the use and abuse of parliamentary democracy. He hoped that the bishops at Lambeth would avoid arguing down various issues for its own sake.
The Lambeth Calls are: Mission and Evangelism, Safe Church and Safeguarding, Anglican Identity, Environment, Sustainable Development, Christian Unity, Interfaith Dialogue, Discipleship, and Science and Faith.
The Archbishop talked about the central role of Christ Church Cathedral in his life and of how the Dean, in particular, had enabled him to sustain curiosity and presence throughout lockdown. The ongoing participation in shared Eucharist and prayer was crucial in his sustaining ministry throughout this challenging time, he said.
He pledged to pray for the people of the dioceses throughout the fortnight of the Lambeth Conference and asked for prayers for him in return. He concluded with a verse from Acts in which Peter declared all foods clean and said that in a quiet corner of the Empire in the house of a centurion, a rip in the fabric of space and time had occurred. He said we are all asked to enter that rip and emerge refreshed.
During the service of Holy Communion in Holy Trinity Rathmines yesterday evening, the Archbishop was blessed and commissioned by members of the parish.
In his sermon he suggested that the lesson from the Old Testament Reading from Jeremiah was that there is to be no expectation of any protection of status for one who holds the sort of high profile job that Baruch, the secretary to Jeramiah, held. Rather, he said, retaining one’s own life was in itself a prize of war, in the idiom of those times.
Moving to the Gospel from St Matthew, where James and John pledge their willingness to drink the cup that Jesus Christ drinks, the Archbishop suggested that the voice of Holy Scripture came through clearly in the definition of all discipleship as entering as deeply as possible into the mind of Christ in terms of service.
