The chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) expressed doubts on March 6 about whether the Lambeth Conference of 2008 will occur as planned.
“A lot depends on who is invited,” Bishop John Paterson of Auckland, New Zealand, told the International Committee of the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council. “If the bishop of New Hampshire is invited, we’ve been told many bishops will not come. If he’s not invited, how many of you will come? How many of us will come?”
During a regularly scheduled meeting in Philadelphia, Bishop Paterson also expressed doubts about the next Lambeth Conference because, unlike Lambeth 1998, the planned conference will not have as much financial assistance available for bishops from impoverished nations.
Earlier in the day, Bishop Paterson apologized to members of Executive Council for how delegates from the Episcopal Church were treated during the 13th meeting of the ACC at Nottingham, England, in June 2005.
Paterson told The Living Church he had decided during the Nottingham meeting that he needed to apologize to both the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church.
“[Presiding Bishop] Frank Griswold immediately picked up on it and gave me the series of dates when this council would meet,” Bishop Paterson said.
During his address to the council, Bishop Paterson called for the Church to develop a theology of inclusion, which he stressed would include traditionalists.
“I’d like to see a win-win situation which the whole American church could agree to,” he told TLC. “Americans sometimes make decisions in a way that pushes people toward conformity.”
Bishop Paterson said his notion of a gospel of inclusion arises from his Anglican province (the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia), which balances the interests of Maoris, Polynesians, and Pakeha (whites). “We work very hard so that majority-and-minority issues don’t arise,” he said. “Regardless of numbers, all are equal.”
While Bishop Paterson addressed the International Committee, council member Louie Crew pointed out that Bishop Paterson’s province was the first in the Anglican Communion to prepare a rite for same-sex unions. Dr. Crew asked Bishop Paterson why his province seems less fearful of discussing sex than many other Anglican provinces.
“It’s just that the world is so far from us,” Bishop Paterson deadpanned. “Our influence takes a long time to permeate.”
“If Americans could learn to play rugby and cricket, many of the problems of the Anglican Communion could be solved,” said Bishop Michael Ingham the Executive Council liaison from the Anglican Church of Canada, prompting laughter.
Douglas Leblanc is reporting from the Executive Council meeting for The Living Church.
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