The future of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church’s place within it may become a little clearer following important meetings which began today in Chicago and London.
An ad hoc group of bishops from the Episcopal Church are meeting in Chicago from Dec. 6 to 8. The meeting is expected to continue conversation which began among 19 invited bishops from across the theological spectrum who reported “frank, respectful” discussion “on a variety of issues that have caused pain and dissension within the Episcopal Church” at the conclusion of a July 18-21 meeting in Los Angeles. Information on the bishops attending the meeting in Chicago was not available at press time.
In London, the Lambeth design group, a group of eight primates, bishops and lay people from across the Anglican Communion, met today to develop an invitation list and an agenda for the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Bishops.
Representatives to the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham received a briefing last June on some of the changes under consideration for the once every-10-year meeting held at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. During a briefing by Bishop James Tengatenga of Southern Malawi, he suggested that the past practice of inviting all bishops (diocesan, suffragan and assistant) introduced at Lambeth 1998 might not be repeated.
While promising at ACC-13 that the “big issues” won’t be avoided, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the past practice of focusing “on large blocks of work usually by four groups of bishops might also be changed for the next meeting. “If we are honest,” he said, “the reports gather dust.”
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