29 July 2008
The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Rt Revd Paul Colton, talks from the Lambeth Conference to Church of Ireland Press Officer, Paul Harron
PH: You are a ‘blogging bishop’ and we’ve been enjoying your regular updates from the conference (see http://bishopofcork.blogspot.com). You’ve said there that you feel the ‘indaba’ process is now working: can you expand on that?
BPC: It is a huge conference, not an intimate one, but the dialogue and intimacy is found within the bible study and indaba groups. Trust has been established and we are now very open with one another. The issues surrounding human sexuality, for example, are being talked about within the indaba setting and there is also healthy conversation within the bible study groups.
I was rather dreading coming to Lambeth, what with the controversy over who was coming and who was not. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it. It is the first Lambeth I have attended (as I was elected as a bishop just after the last one) and I am finding it a positive experience. The human contact has been great, hearing the stories of others. Many of these, I must say, have been humbling as I hear about the challenges some bishops are facing. Not that we don’t have our own challenges in Ireland, but, for example, I was talking to one bishop from the Church of the Province of Melanesia who has to cover 83 islands and deal with 108 different languages – the logistics of that are extraordinary.
Now into the second proper week and I am still meeting people for the first time. It is hard to convey properly the huge scale of the conference. We are dispersed across five or six halls, with two or three eating venues, and our main events in a ‘big top’. Today (Monday 28/7/08), for instance, I have actually only seen one other Irish bishop!
There were all sorts of questions about whether Lambeth would even happen, but now that we’re here there is a real sense that, despite the challenges we face, we are part of the same family – hugely diverse but meeting together.
PH: Tell me about what happened over the past weekend.
BPC: The weekend was a little bit more relaxing. On Saturday it was a busy day with indaba groups on the environment. That was followed by the formal photograph. I’d describe that as the Anglican Communion in meltdown as we sweltered in 29 degree heat standing in our robes on a tiered platform! We were there for a long time and sang ‘Amazing Grace’ at one point, and someone also even started a Christmas carol at another.
On Sunday we had a rest day and I got a chance to spend some time with my wife. Some bishops went out into churches in Kent, while others went to Canterbury Cathedral for a service and hospitality. There was also a civic reception at St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury in the evening.
PH: Some have said that this week things are stepping up in pace – what would you say?
BPC: While it is probably shifting up a gear, we don’t have a huge sense of that on the ground. Obviously the Reflections Group is now meeting, but the rhythm and pattern of the conference is the same as last week. I wouldn’t describe it as an exhilarating experience, more demanding and indeed tiring as we have such a tight schedule. We are working in earnest.
PH: Which sessions and discussions are particularly drawing your attention?
BPC: The great danger is that one gets sucked into events relating to one’s own areas of special interest, to the exclusion of such a wide range of other fringe events going on. I am particularly interested in canon law and how it can help the Anglican Communion deal with its present difficulties. On Friday, I attended a session on the principles of canon law. One hundred principles were identified and articulated. We find that we hold canon law in common in unlikely places.
I am looking forward to hearing the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, tonight (Monday 28/7/08) and on Tuesday eagerly anticipating the second Presidential Address by the Archbishop of Canterbury – his first address was excellent.
PH: What do you envisage emerging from this final week?
BPC: It is hard to know how the week is going to pan out. I, for one, will not be disappointed if we do not come out of it with resolutions.
There is certainly a tension about. Some really feel the need for resolutions. It is true to say that there are very different hopes and expectations. There are very marked differences over issues around human sexuality and the ordination of women in people’s minds. We are not having any formal conversations about the latter and of course there are some women bishops here at the conference. But I wouldn’t say there was fermenting angst: there is mutual dialogue and conversations, most often in informal settings such as queues and over meals and on buses. The paradox of the conference is that while we are experiencing a very rigorous and demanding schedule yet the conference is providing opportunities for very informal encounters.
I think Lambeth is about being a place of encounter, out of which will come dialogue and out which will, in turn, come mutual understanding. This is what we need rather than policies. I would not wish to see the conference turning into a parliamentary style event and I don’t see that happening at this stage. For me, the conference design group has got it right.
ENDS
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