First: 1867 '' cartoon on the subject of the first Lambeth Conference • Presided over by:
Charles Thomas Longley • 76 bishops were present. The Archbishop of York and several other English bishops refused to attend because they thought such a conference would cause "increased confusion" about controversial issues. The conference began with a celebration of the Holy Communion at which
Henry John Whitehouse, the second
Bishop of Illinois, preached; Wilberforce of Oxford later described the sermon as "wordy but not devoid of a certain impressiveness". The first session convened in the upstairs Dining Room (known as the Guard Room). The session was spent discussing a "preamble to the subsequent resolutions" that would be issued after the conference. Day two was spent on a discussion of synodical authority concluding that the faith and unity of the Anglican Communion would be best maintained by there being a synod above those of the "several branches". On day three spent discussing the situation in the Diocese of Natal and its controversial bishop
John William Colenso "who had been deposed and excommunicated for heresy because of his unorthodox views of the Old Testament." One of the chief subjects for consideration was the creation of a tribunal of reference, but the resolutions on this subject were withdrawn owing to opposition of the bishops of the
Episcopal Church in the USA, and a more general resolution in favour of a "consultative body" was substituted. The encyclical letter is accompanied by sixty-three resolutions (which include careful provision for provincial organisation and the extension of the title archbishop "to all metropolitans, a thankful recognition of the revival of brotherhoods and sisterhoods, and of the office of deaconess," and a desire to promote friendly relations with the
Eastern Churches and the various Old Catholic bodies), and the reports of the eleven committees are subjoined.
Davidson chafed under the arrangements for the conference in which he had played no part and determined to write the final encyclical himself. There were a number of unfortunate phrases in his draft to which many bishops objected but he refused to accept amendments on the day of its presentation. However, he reconsidered overnight and announced the following morning that he had changed the draft as requested. A bishop who rose to thank to express gratitude for his change of mind was rebuked with the words, "Sir you may thank me all you wish, but you must thank me in silence".
Fifth: 1908 • Presided over by:
Randall Davidson • 242 bishops present The chief subjects of discussion were: the relations of
faith and modern thought, the supply and training of the clergy, education, foreign missions, revision and "enrichment" of the
Book of Common Prayer, the relation of the Church to "ministries of healing" (
Christian Science, etc.), the questions of marriage and divorce, organisation of the Anglican Church, and reunion with other Churches. The results of the deliberations were embodied in seventy-eight resolutions, which were appended to the encyclical issued, in the name of the conference, by the Archbishop of Canterbury on 8 August.
Sixth: 1920 • Presided over by:
Randall Davidson • 252 bishops present • Rejected Christian Science, spiritualism, and theosophy • Supported political lobbying against "such incentives to vice as indecent literature, suggestive plays and films, the open or secret sale of contraceptives, and the continued existence of brothels." • Affirmed the place of women as lay members of synods. The single most important action of this conference was to issue the "Appeal to all Christian People", which set out the basis on which Anglican churches would move towards visible union with churches of other traditions. The document repeated a slightly modified version of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral and then called on other Christians to accept it as a basis on which to discuss how they may move toward reunion. The proposal did not arise from the formal debates of the conference but amongst a group of bishops talking over tea on the lawn of Lambeth Palace. The conference's uncompromising and unqualified rejection of all forms of artificial contraception, even within marriage, was contained in Resolution 68, which said, in part: We utter an emphatic warning against the use of unnatural means for the avoidance of conception, together with the grave dangers – physical, moral and religious – thereby incurred, and against the evils with which the extension of such use threatens the race. In opposition to the teaching which, under the name of science and religion, encourages married people in the deliberate cultivation of sexual union as an end in itself, we steadfastly uphold what must always be regarded as the governing considerations of Christian marriage. One is the primary purpose for which marriage exists, namely the continuation of the race through the gift and heritage of children; the other is the paramount importance in married life of deliberate and thoughtful self-control.
Seventh: 1930 • Presided over by:
Cosmo Gordon Lang • Resolution 16 expressed "abhorrence of the sinful practice of abortion." • Resolution 18 reckoned "sexual intercourse between persons who are not legally married" to be "a grievous sin." • (2) Race: Resolutions 21–24 • Resolution 22 affirmed the Conference's "conviction that all communicants without distinction of race or colour should have access in any church to the Holy Table of the Lord, and that no one should be excluded from worship in any church on account of colour or race." • (3) Peace and War: Resolutions 25–30 • Resolution 25 affirmed that "war as a method of settling international disputes is incompatible with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ." • Resolution 26 noted with approval the work of the
League of Nations. III. Unity of the Church: Resolutions 31–47 "The Conference encouraged the Unity of the Church in all parts of the world." It was primarily concerned (1) with the relations of the Churches of the Anglican Communion to the Orthodox Churches of the East, and (2) with the Proposed Scheme of Union in South India, and (3) with the problems arising in Special Areas. Various Churches sent delegations to consult with the Conference, notably the Old Catholics. • Resolution 31 recorded, "with deep thanks to Almighty God, the signs of a growing movement towards Christian unity in all parts of the world since the issue of the "Appeal to All Christian People" by the Lambeth Conference in 1920 and reaffirmed "the principles contained in it and in the Resolutions dealing with reunion adopted by that Conference." • Resolution 47 applied the call for Unity of the Church to the Anglican Communion by calling on its members "to promote the cause of union by fostering and deepening in all possible ways the fellowship of the Anglican Communion itself." IV. Anglican Communion: Resolutions 48–60 • Resolution 49 approved a statement of the "nature and status of the Anglican Communion," namely that "the Anglican Communion is a fellowship, within the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted dioceses, provinces or regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury," which have three things in common: • (a) "they uphold and propagate the Catholic and Apostolic faith and order as they are generally set forth in the Book of Common Prayer as authorised in their several Churches" • (b) "they are particular or national Churches, and, as such, promote within each of their territories a national expression of Christian faith, life and worship" • (c) they are bound together "by mutual loyalty sustained through the common counsel of the bishops in conference." • This Resolution was a Lambeth Conference's first attempts at defining the Anglican Communion. • Resolution 50 reaffirmed Resolution 44 of the Lambeth Conference of 1920, "that the Consultative Body is of the nature of a continuation committee of the Lambeth Conference, and neither possesses nor claims any executive or administrative power" and added further directions for its operation. V. Ministry of the Church: Resolutions 61–74 • (1) The Ministry of Women: Resolutions 61–72 • Resolution 66 stressed the "great importance of offering to women of ability and education" a role in directing "the work of the Church." • Resolution 67 reaffirmed the 1920 Conference that "the order of deaconess is for women the one and only order of the ministry which we can recommend our branch of the Catholic Church to recognise and use." • The 1920 Lambeth Conference had acknowledged that the Church had "undervalued and neglected the gifts of women." Nevertheless, it still held to the "differences between women and men" and said that deaconess was the "only Order of the Ministry" with Apostolic approval. The 1930 Lambeth Conference again rejected any parity of deaconesses with deacons because a deaconess was "outside the historic Orders of the ministry." • Resolution 70 allowed bishops, "on the request of the parish priest" to entrust specific functions to deaconesses, namely, "a. to assist the minister in the preparation of candidates for baptism and for confirmation; b. to assist at the administration of Holy Baptism by virtue of her office; c. to baptize in church, and to officiate at the Churching of Women; d. in church to read Morning and Evening Prayer and the Litany, except such portions as are reserved to the priest, and to lead in prayer; with the license of the bishop, to instruct and preach, except in the service of Holy Communion." • (2) Religious Communities: Resolution 74 • Resolution 74 recognized "the growth of religious communities both of men and women in the Anglican Communion and the contribution which they have made."
Cost of the Conference Traditionally the Archbishop of Canterbury bore the cost of a Lambeth Conference. For the 1930 Conference, the British Church Assembly provided £2,000 toward the cost. However, this was only a small fraction of the total cost. One item, providing lunch and afternoon tea every day for five weeks, cost £1,400.
Eighth: 1948 • Presided over by:
Geoffrey Fisher • 349 bishops attend • Advised that the ordination of
Florence Li Tim-Oi "would be against the tradition and order...of the Anglican Communion" and dismissed the need for further examination of women's ordination. • Welcomed full communion between the Anglican and Old Catholic churches. • Affirmed that "discrimination between men on the grounds of race alone is inconsistent with the principles of Christ's religion".
Ninth: 1958 • Presided over by:
Geoffrey Fisher • 310 bishops attend • Called for respect for the "consciences" of married couples who use birth control. • Recommended considering the renewal of the permanent diaconate.
Tenth: 1968 This was the first conference not to take place in Lambeth Palace. This was because of the increase in the number of bishops attending, as well as the presence of almost 100 observers and consultants. Meetings were instead held at Church House, Westminster although the bishops, with their spouses, were invited to dinner at Lambeth by rotation. • Presided over by
Michael Ramsey who famously dozed off during at least one debate. • 462 bishops attended. • Recommended the ordination of women to the diaconate and the recognition of previously appointed "deaconesses" as deacons. • Found the arguments for and against women in the priesthood "inconclusive". • Suggested that assent to the
Thirty-Nine Articles no longer be required of clergy. • Endorsed
open communion.
Eleventh: 1978 • Presided over by
Donald Coggan • 440 bishops attended. This conference "recognised the autonomy of each of its member churches...legal right of each Church to make its own decision" about
women priests. It also denounced the use of capital punishment and called for a common lectionary. This was the first conference to be held on the campus of the
University of Kent at Canterbury where every subsequent conference has been held. The 1978 Conference included forty assistant bishops.
Twelfth: 1988 • Presided over by
Robert Runcie • 518 bishops present The conference dealt with the question of the inter-relations of Anglican international bodies and issues such as marriage and family, human rights, poverty and debt, environment, militarism, justice and peace. Women's ordination to the priesthood was also a major topic of discussion. Archbishop
Michael Peers, Bishop
Graham Leonard, Bishop
Samir Kafity, and the Reverend
Nan Arrington Peete spoke to the assembly on the topic. Peete, who was ordained in the Episcopal Church USA, was the first female priest to speak at the Lambeth Conference. The conference decided that "each province respect the decision of other provinces in the ordination or consecration of women to the episcopate." At previous Lambeth Conferences, only bishops were invited to attend, but all members of the Anglican Consultative Council and representative bishops from the "Churches in Communion" (i.e. the Churches of Bangladesh, North and South India and Pakistan) were invited to attend.
Thirteenth: 1998 • Presided over by:
George Carey • 749 bishops present including, for the first time, eleven of them women The most hotly debated issue at this conference was
homosexuality in the Anglican Communion. It was finally decided, by a vote of 526–70, to pass a resolution (1.10) calling for a "listening process" but stating (in an amendment passed by a vote of 389–190) that "homosexual practice" (not necessarily orientation) is "incompatible with Scripture" and that the Conference "cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions". A subsequent public apology was issued to gay and lesbian Anglicans in a "Pastoral Statement" from 182 bishops worldwide, including eight primates (those of Brazil, Canada, Central Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales), and an attempt was made at conciliation the following year in the form of the
Cambridge Accord. Division and controversy centred on this motion and its application continued to the extent that, ten years later, in 2007,
Giles Goddard of
Inclusive Church suggested in published correspondence with Andrew Goddard across the liberal–evangelical divide: "It's possible to construct a perfectly coherent argument that the last 10 years have been preoccupied with undoing the damage Lambeth 1.10 caused to the Communion." A controversial incident occurred during the conference when Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma of
Enugu, Nigeria, attempted to exorcise the "homosexual demons" from Richard Kirker, a British priest and the general secretary of the
Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, who was passing out leaflets. Chukwuma told Kirker that he was "killing the church"; Kirker's response to the attempted exorcism was "May God bless you, sir, and deliver you from your prejudice against homosexuality." Reflecting on resolution 1.10 in the lead up to Lambeth 2022,
Angela Tilby recalled the intervention of Bishop
Michael Bourke, who successfully proposed an amendment which said: "We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons". Tilby considered that while the amendment had appeared inconsequential at the time, it had indeed been significant: she said that the idea of "patient listening" underpinned the Church of England's process Living in Love and Faith.
Fourteenth: 2008 • Presided over by
Rowan Williams • Around 670 bishops present to the 38 primates of the Anglican Communion and moderators of the united churches setting out his thinking for the next Lambeth Conference. Williams indicated that the emphasis will be on training, "for really effective, truthful and prayerful mission". He ruled out (for the time being) reopening of the controversial resolution 1.10 on human sexuality from the previous Lambeth Conference, but emphasised the "listening process" in which diverse views and experiences of human sexuality were being collected and collated in accordance with that resolution and said it "will be important to allow time for this to be presented and reflected upon in 2008". Williams indicated that the traditional plenary sessions and resolutions would be reduced and that "We shall be looking at a bigger number of more focused groups, some of which may bring bishops and spouses together." Attendance at the Lambeth Conference is by invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Invitations were sent to more than 880 bishops around the world for the Fourteenth Conference. Notably absent from the list of those invited are
Gene Robinson and
Martyn Minns. Robinson was the first Anglican bishop to exercise the office while in an acknowledged same-sex relationship, and Rowan Williams said it was "proving extremely difficult to see under what heading he might be invited to be around", drawing criticism. Minns, the former rector of
Truro Episcopal Church in
Fairfax, Virginia, was the head of the
Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a splinter group of American Anglicans; the
Church of Nigeria considered him a missionary bishop to the United States, despite protest from Canterbury and the U.S. Episcopal Church. In 2008, four Anglican primates announced that they intended to boycott the Lambeth conference because of their opposition to the actions of
Episcopal Church in the USA (the American province of the Anglican Communion) in favour of homosexual clergy and same-sex unions. These primates represent the Anglican provinces of Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. In addition,
Peter Jensen, Archbishop of
Sydney, Australia and
Michael Nazir-Ali,
Bishop of Rochester, among others announced their intentions not to attend. The
Global Anglican Future Conference, a meeting of conservative bishops held in
Jerusalem in June 2008 (one month prior to Lambeth), was thought by some to be an "alternative Lambeth" for those who are opposed to the consecration of Robinson. GAFCON involved Martyn Minns,
Peter Akinola and other dissenters who considered themselves to be in a state of impaired
communion with the American Episcopal Church and the See of Canterbury. The June 2008 church blessing of a civil relationship between Peter Cowell, an Anglican chaplain at the
Royal London Hospital and priest at
Westminster Abbey, and David Lord, an Anglican priest serving at a parish in
Waikato, New Zealand, renewed the debate one month prior to the conference.
Martin Dudley, who officiated at the ceremony at
St Bartholomew-the-Great, maintained that the ceremony was a "blessing" rather than a matrimonial ceremony. In 2008, the seven martyred members of the
Melanesian Brotherhood were honoured during the concluding Eucharist of the 2008 conference at
Canterbury Cathedral. Their names were added to the book of contemporary martyrs and placed, along with an
icon, on the altar of the "Chapel of the Saints and Martyrs of Our Times". When the Eucharist was over, bishops and others came to pray in front of the small altar in the chapel. The icon stands in the cathedral as a reminder of their witness to peace and of the multi-ethnic character of global Anglicanism.
Fifteenth: 2022 : • Presided over by
Justin Welby • Around 660 bishops present The ten-year cycle followed since 1948 would have suggested a Lambeth Conference in 2018.
Justin Welby had replaced Rowan Williams in 2013, and against a backdrop of disagreement within the Anglican Communion over homosexuality, Welby declined to convene a conference until he had visited primates in their own countries, and felt confident that the vast majority of bishops would attend. Welby appointed a Design Group under the chairmanship of Archbishop
Thabo Makoba of Cape Town to plan for a conference in 2020. Given the
COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was delayed by two years. With the theme, "God's Church to God's World", the conference began on 27 July 2022. It lasted for 12 days with around 660 bishops in attendance. The conference once again included significant discussion of
homosexuality and
same-sex marriage, with a draft 'call' with similarities to Resolution 1.10 from the 1998 conference being included in the conference's proceedings (which declared gay sex to be a sin). On 2 August, Welby 'affirmed the validity' of Resolution 1.10 saying that it was "not in doubt". and the signing by 175 bishops and primates of a pro-LGBTQ statement asserting the holiness of the love of all committed same-sex couples. In response to the discourse surrounding sexuality at the Conference, the
University of Kent LGBT+ Staff Network organised an 'inclusion march' called the Lambeth Walk, which was attended by more than 150 people including LGBT+ bishops and their spouses, followed by the
Rainbows in Religion symposium which included guest speakers
Jayne Ozanne and Dr Angus M Slater. ==References==