27.07.2022
Lambeth 2022 Day 1: Welcome and renewal of friendships
The Lambeth Conference is currently taking place with Anglican bishops from throughout the Anglican Communion gathering in Canterbury. The once in a decade conference brings together bishops from across the globe for prayer and reflection, fellowship, and dialogue on church and world affairs. Archbishop Michael Jackson is attending and will report back to Dublin & Glendalough. Below is his report from Day 1 of Lambeth 2022.
Arrivals of bishops continued well into the night, as is only to be expected with such an international conference.
After an opportunity for us all to acclimatize and get to know the lay out and the grounds of the university campus in Canterbury, we gathered to be welcomed formally by Archbishop Justin Welby and Mrs Welby. This they did very generously and graciously.
Archdeacon Will Adam, formerly Assistant Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, gave a very positive and succinct overview of the Lambeth Conference.
He spoke of its early history, its role in pioneering ecumenical relations and in the creation of new Provinces. He underlined the understanding that in the Anglican Communion there is Provincial authority with a strong degree of autonomy.
He reminded bishops gathered at the conference that we are one of the instruments of communion and concluded by saying that each conference develops something new in the life of the Communion. The Lambeth Calls are a new expression of the Anglican method in the conference of 2022.
Archbishop Welby referred to the fact that 165 countries were represented as were thousands of different cultures in this gathering.
After lunch, bishops met in the groups in which they had met on–line ahead of the conference, renewed friendships, shared perspectives on their dioceses and prayed together.
