Lambeth in Review 2022

God’s church for God’s World

LAMBETH IN REVIEW 2022

- August

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34 “I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

Dear Clergy and people of the Diocese of Texas: I write to you on the eve of Lambeth. I have been asked by many of you to write on the upcoming Lambeth“calls.”

First, the Episcopal Church is clear about its theology on marriage for all people. The Diocese of Texas has a plan that was formed before 2012 called “Unity in Mission” that has guided our friendships and care for one another for a decade now. The bishops and the leadership of the Diocese worked in a dedicated and faithful manner to shepherd us to a place where we can find much joy in our common life together. The Diocese of Texas will see no change after Lambeth regarding marriage. We will continue to support one another in mission, striving to do good in the name of Jesus and to serve the world spreading the Gospel.

We love each other. We love our traditional and progressive members of congregations. We support and love our LGBTQ+ members as we have done for many years. It can be painful for those who have already felt so much pain in their lives to be reminded that our province is somewhat unique in the Anglican communion. In Texas, we stand together as members of this diocese, committed to love and to serve one another. This means when one of our family members is in pain, we need to be attentive. Not unlike General Convention, Lambeth may be upsetting to many of us. Let us hold one another in prayer as parts of Christ’s body. Do not be tempted to cast our friendship aside. Or to move quickly to judgment. We have not even arrived to several weeks of working together.

I trust you will, in my absence, speak kindly to one another and to love one another. Perhaps now is the time when you reach across the aisle to a fellow parishioner or clergyperson, traditional or progressive, who may need to hear that they are important to you and to your church community.

I suggest that you not use social media as a platform for any serious Lambeth discussion. Also, realize other bishops and media are not me nor our bishops.

I wish to say two things that are very important to our life as members of the Anglican Church: first on the “calls”, and then on our place in the communion.

The “Calls”

In the Diocese of Texas, we desire to be an active part of The Episcopal Church and The Anglican Communion. This has been stated clearly in our agreed upon core values since 2008. This means that your bishops must be attentive to our shared life among The Episcopal Church dioceses and the wider provinces of the Communion. As such, we offer financial support and participate in leadership who undertake our shared ministry. The Lambeth Conference has been a long time in planning. The Archbishop of Canterbury

and his team have been working to bring people together. Your bishops have participated in leading and learning from small Bible study groups over the last year. We have participated in prayer for the Communion and our siblings worldwide.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has for many years been clear (when asked) that when we are together, we will talk about difficult things – the urgency of climate change, mission, evangelism, discipleship, and marriage, among other topics. Moreover, every Lambeth Conference since the second one, held in 1888, has voted on resolutions. The Calls are intended to recognize that there is no power over the churches, but there may in fact be some shared theological perspectives. At Lambeth we have voted. The conversation and voting on marriage have lasted for decades with different themes. Moreover, the Archbishop has been speaking about the Calls for months now. Videos from the Archbishop, website postings, and news releases have, for over a year, made topics and voting no surprise to me. That is not true for others. Because your bishops know the history, read, participate, and prepare, we do not find any of this to be an “urgent” “bait and switch”. We are prepared for Lambeth and the conversations we will have there.

We are not going to turn our back on each other in Texas or in the Global Communion because we disagree on this. Nothing will come of that. We have to show up, speak truthfully and trust our unity is in God. I do not need to tell you that the mission of the church is to be in community and in communion with our sisters and brothers in Christ, and that is what I and my fellow bishops are going to Lambeth to do. There is no greater gift than to be able to literally stand shoulder to shoulder under the roof of the mother church, Canterbury Cathedral, and worship and be in communion with ALL our fellow bishops. We bishops will carry the Diocese of Texas with us into that great cathedral. ALL of you.

“God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.” 1 Corinthians 1:10 Christ prays for our unity in John’s “priestly prayer.” Paul’s and Christ’s vision in the Johannine community is that God unites us through the great Comforter – The Holy Spirit.

The last thing I will say about the Calls is that they are not fully formed. We are asked to pray about them and be ready to speak about them. We do not really know but can expect how we might be offered to vote, but we also need to wait and see how this is formulated. I am unwilling at this time to make any comment until the final drafts are finished. I am sure we can and will handle well our time in conversation with our kin from around the world as we pray, eat, study, and talk with one another. Again, this will not change our support and love of one another in Texas.

TEC’s Place in the Communion

I have served in our diocesan office since 2003. I woke up early to read and annotate the Windsor Report to assist then Diocesan Bishop, Don Wimberly, prepare to speak to our clergy. For decades the Anglican Communion has discussed a variety of marriage and sexuality topics – the first time being in 1968 when it dealt with “mixed marriages”. It is no surprise then that marriage will continue as a discussion at this Lambeth. It is not news that The Episcopal Church and a few other provinces are a minority of provinces in the whole communion offering marriage equality. This means that the traditional theological perspective on marriage

remains normative for the Anglican Communion family. It is also important to remember that the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, like other dioceses, allows marriage for all people while remaining largely a community of traditional congregations. We are a great example a diverse community who sees God’s dignity in every human being, and who is bound tightly together by our love of Christ.

Your bishops are called to truth and reconciliation. We will be honest and truthful about who we are and who we love. You may read about this and that in the news. Rest in the knowledge that you know and trust us; and that we will report as we go, and that you will hear directly from us. Division is always newsworthy. Yet we are unified on much. I encourage the clergy of the Diocese that as you speak about Lambeth, you find the commonality over mission and Jesus. If you will find our unity and preach Jesus, you will lead your people into truth and reconciliation.

As for me, I will seek humility among my sibling bishops, I will listen to hardship and heartache and speak of justice, and I will show mercy to all bishops. I believe, as did our first Bishop Alexander Gregg, when he traveled to the first Lambeth, that it is important for us to meet, to pray, to study scripture, and to share Eucharist with each other. It will be important to have your prayers as we discern how to deal with each of the “calls”. So, we go as sibling bishops, eager to learn from one another, to know each other, to understand each other and our shared ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Building lasting relationships is essential to understand and support one another, even when we disagree. Recently, a clergyman suggested it isn’t about love. It may not be all about love, it may also be about loyalty to each other in kinship, care for each other as neighbors, and service to the world as Samaritans – the rest is pretty much about love.

“Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other.” Romans 12:10

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Paul writes, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1Cor. 13 Verses 1 to 13) No matter what we face, no matter what we must say, or be called upon to do, we must avoid being clanging cymbals.

Faithfully, C. Andrew Doyle, D.D., IX Bishop of Texas

LAMBETH IN REVIEW

July 25, 11:31 am: While having tea at Canterbury a loyal friend has told me the Texas Designated Survivor has already changed my visitation customary, and replaced the clergy with high church mice.

July 26, 7:28 am:

An Anglican Communion project The Episcopal Diocese of Texas funded through our Episcopal Foundation tithe grants was “The Bible in the Life of the Church” project. It was one of my first projects with the Communion under the leadership and vision of Archbishop Williams.

The project studied how all the people of the Communion read the Bible differently and yet hold it as central to our individual spiritual and communal life.

can read more about this project here.

July 27, 3:35 am:

Yesterday was quiet from Episcopos Felinus, our Texas Designated Survivor. I knew to be worried in the silence. Evidently he had a scribe draft a 50 page pastoral letter to be read to churches requiring asperges of Holy water be begin all services - buckets to purge the sinful.

July 27, 3:44 am:

Bishop and Canon Lawyers - thought you might find this article very good on the nature of Lambeth and authority. HT @Praxeas. lawandreligionuk. com/2022/07/26/principles-of-canonlaw-and-the-mind-of-the-anglicancommunion/

July 27, 4:00 am:

In the last few posts on the Anglican Communion, I have shared pieces and parts of what and who make up our community.

And the next few posts I hope to share a little bit about what it is that the communion accomplishes, who it works with, and how together we truly have a global witness to Christ’s love at work in the world.

For example here are networks that make up our common life: www.anglicancommunion.org/community/networks.aspx

A day of welcome

July 27, 6:46 am: We begin our time, with song, and information. I visited this morning with bishops from Central America, Pakistan, Africa, Hong Kong, and South Africa! Amazing gift of love and grace already.

July 28, 5:25 am: It was a good day yesterday, July 28, @ LambethConf. Met with many friends new and old. Prayer and worship is quite good. Leaning into our relationships is a gift and a wonderful way to begin. Archbishop’s Longley’s vision for the first gathering remains at the core of this one.

July 28, 5:26 am:

Today @LambethConf we begin with worship on Swahili and English, with a meditation in French on 1 Peter. Very good beginning with a beautiful setting of the Benedictus.

July 28, 5:27 am:

Learn about our Anglican communion: we share a sense of common mission. On this page are our marks of mission.

It also includes links to particular examples of our shared work around the globe: gender justice, discipleship, church planting, relief and development, environment, social justice for indigenous people, youth and young adults, ecumenism, and theological education.

If one of these is something you are interested in, take a look.

Find how your story and those of your fellow Anglicans dovetail into the mission of God. www.anglicancommunion.org/mission.aspx

July 28, 6:38 am:

Our Texas Designated Survivor left behind, Episcocat Felinus Maximus had a dream last night of the immovable ladder from the Holy Sepulcher, and now claims angels appeared with a holy ladder to be installed at our Cathedral near deans office window.

July 28, 8:51 am:

Find your bishop! Here is a wonderful link of fotos from @LambethConf lambeth.photoshelter.com/index

July 28, 9:03 am:

No surprise, @LambethConf Dr. Esther Mombo brings down the house calling us to see Christ in another color than white, adding a call for the end of colonialism, and the need for justice - inviting us to reject all other kingdoms but the Kingdom of Christ.

(1 Peter 2:13-3:22)

July 29, 3:13 am:

2008 women Bishops gathered at Lambeth, and 2022 women Bishops at Lambeth.

July 29, 4:12 am:

Good Morning from the UK! Yesterday was rich in conversation. Second day of retreat @ LambethConf begins at the mother church. Excited about friend @jenn_straw giving our final meditation. The team has produced excellent Bible study and we hope it will be available for parishes.

July 29, 4:15 am:

The more I meditate on what the meaning of God’s Church for the World @LambethConf, the more I am aware that old ways of the 20th century are falling away as we consider mission relationships for tomorrow. That struggle to break free of colonialism and principalities is hard.

July 29, 4:50 am:

There is an amazing and powerful sense of our smallness before God, God’s presence, and the communion of faith when 700 bishops in Canterbury Cathedral enter into silent prayer @ LambethConf.

July 29, 4:59 am:

Episcopos Felinus, our Texas Designated Survivor, left in Texas on his own, has begun a new Sunday School plan where children progress from managing matches, to boat bearers, to charcoal lighters, to thurifers and censers. Here is a group being coached on swinging incense.

July 29, 3:00 pm:

YES! I will send my priests out to the cricket pitches in Texas. Love the @HouStallions [@adlucemdei Because I need something funny, Anglican, and positive, here’s a picture of an Anglican priest blessing a cricket wicket!]

July 29, 3:02 pm:

July 29, 3:12 pm:

2008 women Bishops gathered at Lambeth, and 2022 women Bishops at Lambeth.

30, 1:57 am:

July 30, 2:36 am:

An interesting site on how cartoonists have portrayed Archbishop of Canterbury over the ages. It is a post by a fave @_F_B_G_ read it here: archbishopcranmer. com/cartoons-catuar-cartoonistsarchbishop-canterbury-centuries/

July 30, 6:09 am:

Charles Longley imagined a unity of global mission minded bishops. Royal supremacy, synodical minded, and colonial were all parts of this beginning. Yes. @LambethConf the core, the core which has lasted over these many years, is this idea of a church in mission together.

July 30, 6:11 am:

My first Sunday away from @TexasDiocese is coming up, while @LambethConf my Designated Survivor Bishop left back, Episcocat Felinus “High Church” to the Maximus, continues to change customs! Received this picture (canopy, cope, mitre, and his crew) on their way to a visitation!

July 30, 7:59 am:

This is my reflection from today’s Bible study @LambethConf: “To Be holy as God is holy. A word of hope that comes from the beginning of scripture and passes through to the whole of kinship theology to the end…” you can read a short reflection here: texasbishop.blogspot.com

July 30, 8:44 am:

I would like to suggest that (while some have contrary opinions) we as @LambethConf began gathering on topics of shared faith in Jesus, shared ministry, the difficulty of proclaiming the good news of Christ in a hurting world.

July 30, 12:02 pm:

We had a wonderful discussion on models of collaboration in the communion. Here is my contribution: bit.ly/3oHyjh7

July 30, 1:11 pm:

Episcopal News service captured this wonderful picture of a Low Church Bishop teaching a High Church Bishop appropriate attire.

July 30, 3:08 pm:

The afternoon groups are finished. What do bishops do @LambethConf? You ride campus scooters! #bishopsonscooters

July 31, 2:07 am:

It is odd to glimpse @LambethConf through the lens of twitter and media. One cannot grasp the diverse social contexts, life lived, bumping into each other. It is quiet, Bible study, visiting, praying, witnessing to mission. Elisha from the Congo sends blessings to @TexasDiocese

July 31, 7:26 am: We could see this coming. The @TexasDiocese Designated Survivor Bishop, Episcocat Felinus “High Church” Maximus, made a visitation today at St. Mathias, Giddings. They couldn’t see the altar! I mean c’mon, I barely allow candles on the altar.

July 31, 7:35 am: Canterbury Road @LambethConf ------ 9:03 am: Songs include: Come Together; A Lambeth Thing; Justin’s Silver Crozier; Oh’ Bishops; Canterbury Garden; I’ll Call You; Here Come the Primates; Medley of Dioceses; and, His Archbishopness

July 31, 7:35 am:

Canterbury Road @LambethConf (Continued)

July 31, 8:40 am:

Not many stayed seated @LambethConf at opening service, we had ecumenical visitors too. I said “peace my friend,” as I passed those near me. The grace of communion overflows the altar poured out on all present. We might, as we walk together, all need a bit of grace and peace.

July 31, 8:51 am:

Lambeth Learning: Together we share broad ecumenical dialogue. Here are churches we are in communion with. You will see our partners in the Lambeth picture if you look at the vestments being worn. www.anglicancommunion.org/ecumenism/churches-in-communion. aspx?fbclid=IwAR04jciHmvIdSIbiiB8gjbbnNIAMjuxOKIYbRYrDkpGAKJTqt8bq5qsnBkE

July 31, 8:51 am:

Today was the great service at Canterbury Episcopal Church. The sermon was stunning as was the diverse music. It was beautiful. It is live here: youtu.be/RcX4jxvQP7c

July 31, 9:13 am:

Communion teaching for today. Together our church is in 9 ecumenical

How do we relate to Lutherans, the Orthodox, the Methodists, Roman

and Orthodox. You can read about this ministry here:

July 31, 9:17 am:

An Album from Canterbury so far.

July 31, 10:40 am:

No buttons, no numbers, devices @LambethConf. The gathering is a consultation in nature with no binding effect.

July 31, 11:04 am:

Charles Longley, you’ve been watching @LambethConf #, what do you think about no voting devices?

DAY 5

Aug 1, 4:19 am:

Aug 1, 4:24 am:

This is a beautiful piece of video covering yesterday. Take a look. Watch the full Day 5 highlights here: www.lambethconference. org/from-the-conference/highlights/day-5/?fbclid=IwAR3Ezf_

Aug 1, 5:24 am:

A beautiful picture of Archbishop Whitgift in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s dining room. Elizabeth the First’s trusted bishop.

Aug 1, 6:19 am:

Aug 1, 6:27 am:

Aug 1, 5:49 am:

Good morning Lambeth watchers. Today I wanted to show you how our common life connects indigenous individuals from around the globe.

Bishop Kito Pikaahu, a Mauri, and a new friend, and president of the network is on the far left.

ain.anglicancommunion.org

Aug 1, 6:51 am:

Thank goodness that our Designated Bishop Survivor who has stayed home, Episcocat Felinus “High Church” Maximus, is resting in his borrowed monks habit today. He is not causing problems, though he is always thinking, as one can see.

Aug 1, 1:29 pm:

Luv ya The Episcopal Diocese of Texas! We miss you and miss our friend Hector Monterroso too.

Aug 1, 4:44 pm:

I love the Bishops of Brasil attending Lambeth! The are joyous, they sing, they dance and they treat you like long lost cousins. Brasil Rocks!

Eu amo os Bispos do Brasil presentes em Lambeth! Eles são alegres, cantam, dançam e tratam você como primos perdidos há muito tempo. Saúde Brasil!

Aug 1, 2:04 pm:

Today’s call @LambethConf on Anglican Identity might have been better named Anglican Polity. It was very clear from every sector that much more work was needed if indeed we were to accurately describe our global polity. 1/4

Aug 1, 3:00 pm:

So happy to sponsor and host @LambethConf a visit with the University of Kent the Centre for Anglican History and Theology with 40 bishops representing our global theological endeavors. research.kent.ac.uk/anglican-history-theology/

Aug 1, 6:14 pm:

DAY

Aug 2, 2:20 am:

Perhaps today there is dread and anxiety in the churches for because of the call on Anglican identity @LambethConf. But God enters our space and says, “peace be with you.” And, “I am with you.” Paul reminds us nothing separates us from the perfect love of God. 1/2

Aug 2, 3:12 am:

I cannot easily share the good conversation going on @LambethConf. So much deepening, connection, and collaboration. No matter your perspective- you would have been proud, giggled, and thought seriously with us about: who we are, and who we might become for the sake of the world.

Aug 2, 4:15 am:

Here is your Anglican Communion teaching for the day: The five marks of mission unify the Anglican comunion and variety of different ways. Did you know that the episcopal church has a firm the five marks of mission for The Anglican Communion? They are a good way of thinking of a shared work together. www.anglicancommunion.org/mission/marks-of-mission.aspx

Aug, 2, 6:10 am:

Best comment from a bishop this morning: “I feel that the arguing going on out there, is not what we are experiencing [@LambethConf].

Aug 2, 7:03 am:

As a sign of our sibling kinship around the world bishops of every part of the world bowed before each other and exchanged pectoral crosses as a sign of reconciliation @ LambethConf. I exchanged mine and bishop Sténio Andre of Mauritius, the Anglican Church of the Indian Ocean.

Aug 2, 10:11 am:

So, I don’t even pretend, as a low church bishop, to understand what Episcocat Felinus “High Church” Maximus is doing here; but it makes me want to only wear my black chimere.

Aug 2, 4:34 pm: I’ve indicated @ LambethConf something was happening and that we needed to see what would take shape. Leadership by a listening planning committee, a great working group, leadership by Archbishop, prayer by all the bishops, even those who came without their primate.

7

Aug 3, 5:55 am:

This is a very important insight about parsing what one hears about this group or that group. HT +Matt

Aug 3, 6:18 am:

You can find the @LambethConf bishop spouse event pictures below. They meet in Bible study groups and programs too. Caroline Welby has down an amazing job. eventsalbum.com/ publicgallery.aspx?guid=J4K5N4BX

Aug 3, 6:44 am:

A wonderful synopsis

[@LambethConf “Put the practice of reconciliation into action.” Today at the #LambethConference, bishops explored what it means to be called to reconciliation. They also gathered to discuss the calls on ‘Reconciliation’ and ‘Human Dignity’. Watch the Day 7 highlights➡ bit.ly/3zuUZ9h]

Aug 3, 2:29 pm:

You know my saga, I’ve left Episcocat Felinus “High Church” Maximus as our Designated Survivor. Today he taught them about the maniple, to be used to dry the priests’ many required Eucharistic tears. As a Low Church bishop I have many feelings about the mini arm stole.

Aug 3, 2:29 pm:

You know my saga, I’ve left Episcocat Felinus “High Church” Maximus as our Designated Survivor. Today he taught them about the maniple, to be used to dry the priests’ many required Eucharistic tears. As a Low Church bishop I have many feelings about the mini arm stole. Continued....

Aug 3, 2:29 pm:

You know my saga, I’ve left Episcocat Felinus “High Church” Maximus as our Designated Survivor. Today he taught them about the maniple, to be used to dry the priests’ many required Eucharistic tears. As a Low Church bishop I have many feelings about the mini arm stole. Continued....

Aug 4, 7:52 am:

Excellent thread on yesterdays work. twitter.com/TexasBishop/ status/1555174730138877958

Aug 4, 8:07 am:

Today @LambethConf is quieter, peaceful, people are tired. Despite very good plenary conversations about ecumenical life. Here are the talks: youtu.be/ x8cSt5yWtcE

Aug 4, 8:45 am:

Reflections on Lambeth from an Anglican history buff, supporter of Anglican Communion, and first timer.

There is a special relationship to Lambeth for a bishop. It’s not the history or the statementsfor these merely represent the mind of the conference regarding the global church at any given moment.

Lambeth is an outward and visible sign of our global and Holy Spirit connected life. It is true that there are ways we work together, they too are signs of this shared life: Anglican Consultative Council, primates gatherings, para-church organizations, and networks of ministry.

Yet what we find is our unity truly rests in God. That our shared worship every time we gather is powerful. Our stories shared of Anglican gospel witness. Our common ministries dedicated to stop global violence against women, children, minorities and all oppressed.

Are we perfect? No. Have we ourselves caused damage? Yes. Are we engaging in truth telling? Yes, step by step.

Yet what is so important and necessary for this to work are relationships born from scripture study, shared prayer, and life lived together for a while.

I have been extraordinarily blessed by my many relationships in the Communion and by those new ones I’ve experienced on this trip.

I’m grateful too that our TEC House of Bishops has had an opportunity to experience these relationships. This is a renewal moment for the Anglican Communion and for the bishops of The Episcopal Diocese of Texas. It will also be a renewal movement for sharing foreign mission.

We have a few days left, and will be excited for some time off. At the same time we are relishing what is left.

Aug 4, 9:10 am:

Here are the calls on Environment care from @LambethConf

Aug 4, 9:11 am:

Here are the calls on Creation care - specifically sustainable development from @LambethConf

Aug 4, 11:55 am:

Love this from VTS re: photo @LambethConf, it’s a lovely video. vimeo.com/735136478/0c68eb2b1e?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=65542731

Aug 4, 12:06 pm:

This was so good!

[@franklogue The Iranian-born Bishop Gulnar Eleanor “Guli” Francis-Dehqani is now the Bishop of Chelmsford. She is pictured here with her Muslim grandfather. Her other grandfather was the Bishop of Iran as was her father. She challenged the #LambethConference on engaging with other faiths.]

Aug 4, 3:09 pm:

Oh no! @lo_fi_priest warned me. Designated Survivor Episcocat Felinus “High Church”Maximus has installed a rood screen at Camp Allen while I’m out of the country!

Aug 5, 2:42 pm:

Here is yesterday’s highlight reel from @LambethConf

[@LambethConf Today at the #LambethConference we had a two-themed day, looking first at what it means to be united together in mission. In the afternoon, bishops explored inter faith relations and how we seek the common good together. Watch the full Day 9 highlights ➡ bit.ly/3zVAeVY]

DAY 10

Aug 6, 5:06 am: I am loving the Science and Faith discussion today. Of course I would.

Aug 6, 5:07 am:

Our Day 10 video. So much collaboration going on.

[@LambethConf “A church that is not of peaceful revolution will be a church only of history...” Today has been spent at the foot of the cross, where bishops explored what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ, together in the world. Watch the Day 10 highlights ➡bit.ly/3P2vAK5]

Aug 6, 6:04 am:

There is a sense of personal renewal for me from my time @ LambethConf. Sharing about renewal, mission, discipleship, Missional communities, and church planting. This is a gift.

Aug 6, 6:16 am:

Playing with these thoughts from @LambethConf: Classification of people is not a Christian way of life, declassification under the shadow of the cross and embrace of Jesus invites curiosity about one another’s culture - to be inter-culturally aware.

Aug 6, 6:32 am:

My thoughts this morning came from our plenary. Watch this presentation and reflections that follow. It was a powerful morning session! www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtM9EtnNSqc

Aug 6, 7:43 am:

Anglicanism has rejected several times puritan, charismatic, and evangelical dissentersspawning much of western denominationalism. Yet, it has held a particular place for individual and corporate salvation. Keeping an oddly united evangelical, broad, and catholic church.

Aug 6, 4:21 pm: Another very good day! Take a look. [@LambethConf Today at the #LambethConference, we continued to think about the world beyond the conference. Bishops explored science and the way it affects ministry and mission, and we looked together at the decade ahead. Watch the full Day 11 highlights here ➡ bit.ly/3PjrCgp]

Aug 6, 4:21 pm:

Another very good day! Take a look.

[@LambethConf Today at the #LambethConference, we continued to think about the world beyond the conference. Bishops explored science and the way it affects ministry and mission, and we looked together at the decade ahead. Watch the full Day 11 highlights here ➡ bit.ly/3PjrCgp]

DAY 11

Aug 7, 4:01 am:

Join us in watching the final plenary with Archbishop of Canterbury’s final address. youtu.be/JlXND3YAMRE

Aug 7, 3:27 am:

@LambethConf Anglicanism is strong and greater than it’s politics - it ever emerges as a renewed and ever stronger web of relationships. Yes, a few will be minded to pull at what God binds, but alas that itself is a fools errand. 1/2

So I begin the last day @ LambethConf knowing I’m in the right church and will lean towards others because I’m not just made to be loved and to belong; I am also made to love and to create belonging for all people. 2/2

Aug 7, 11:45 am: Fearing that his low church bishop soon returns, my Designated Survivor Bishop Episcocat Felinus “High Church” Maximus has gotten outlandishly brazen and installed a Fox Anchorite at St. Martin’s in Houston.

Aug 7, 12:11 pm:

The last service @LambethConf with beautiful music, preaching, singing, and gratitude for a very powerful pilgrimage. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLY7b3DyxY&feature=youtu.be

12

Aug 8, 2:45 am:

Here you go: highlights of our last day at Lambeth

[@LambethConf As we close out the #LambethConference, we are pleased to share the wonderful highlights from the final day. It may be the end of this journey, but it is also the beginning of the next stage of the journey together. Watch the full Day 12 highlights bit.ly/3QdVThW]

Aug 8, 4:34 am:

The bird app suggestions on happenings at @LambethConf, as a primary news source, will be found to be half truth. We claim experience, listening, relationship, real bodies/hearts interacting with Bible and prayer to be essential to truth. The whole story is yet being written.

Aug 8, 2:45 am: You can find more photos from Lambeth here: lambeth.photoshelter.com/index?fbclid=IwAR0rdC_oGx-XckAufM2LIp5gxwJofMOmL_

Aug 8, 2:45 am: You can find clergy spouse photos from Lambeth here: eventsalbum.com/publicgallery.aspx?guid=J4K5N4BX

Lambeth Conference 2022: God’s Church for God’s World – Listening, walking and witnessing together

To the clergy and people of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas: The participation of bishops in the Lambeth Conference is an essential part of living into our ordination vows and our life as Episcopalians who are interdependent members of the Anglican Communion. Each of the bishops of the diocese gives thanks for our time at Lambeth. It is very difficult to express the power of meeting with bishops from the global communion and the time spent in prayer together, in reading scripture, in sharing our mission, and in pondering the challenges we face in the world.

We have spoken together in small groups, at table groups, listened to witnesses. We spoke and listened on the following topics: evangelism, discipleship, reconciliation, dignity, creation care, ecumenicism, suffering, humility, and hope.

To be an Anglican is to have a global and local focus, and to participate in local and global mission. These are values that the Episcopal Diocese of Texas has explicitly affirmed since 2008. We continue to build relationships and discern how to increase our parochial and diocesan connections beyond our borders.

We do not turn our backs on the challenge of these relationships. Instead, in this diocese we lean in, towards each other, understanding that our unity comes from the perfect love of the Holy Spirit – bound by Jesus’s incarnation and his saving acts, and upon our shared image created by God. This unity is rooted in our faith in God whom we trust, and it is a unity strived for, despite our brokenness and sinfulness. There is no question that holding the tensions of the Communion and working to live together across the diversity of cultures and contexts is difficult.

One of the very important understandings about the Anglican Communion is that we are interdependent and that the conversation here is solely a matter of the collective minds of bishops present. This is true for the work suggested by the “Lambeth Calls” here, and the actions suggested when bishops return to their diocesan life; thus, it is completely up to us to enliven locally, our global mission. This was affirmed in the discourse on Anglican identity and polity by the bishops quite universally.

The reality is that the importance of our gathering, the many topics, and the nature of our gathering are overshadowed in the press and social media by the focus on “same-sex marriage” or “marriage equality.” This division, highlighted by some bishops, some press, and social media, points to the differences that exist in the Anglican communion on the topic of human sexuality and gender.

In the diocese we, too, found that this topic dominated us, and frustrated our Christian unity, for the sake of mission expressed through evangelism and service. In this way, at Lambeth Conference, this disunity became a most singular focus, and the sessions on reconciliation and dignity became key to our attention to wider collaborative and shared mission. That is: The deep expression of conflicting positions on

marriage created the impetus for us to listen more deeply and to recommit to one another without denying our differences.

Our gathering did not “set the stage” for this disagreement, but rather it is only at this gathering for Lambeth that we can be open and honest about our disagreement. Yet, God unites us and those contexts with different approaches to Anglican moral theology. We, in the diocese, dealt with this in 2012 after a two-year process. In the Diocese of Texas, we made it clear that we would support our LGBTQ+ members and families and we would continue traditional marriage at the same time we expanded marriage for all people. Sadly, this same topic is what was used to claim the necessity of mistreating people, stealing property, and leaving The Episcopal Church.

What has taken place at Lambeth is an affirmation of our Unity in Mission work and a damning rejection of the secular notion that we cannot walk together, as well as a rejection of the heretical notion that God’s love is not strong enough to hold us together. As was presented in our session on ecumenism - division is a sin and we must be transparent and honest about it.

Much of what is in the call is uncontentious - including the issues of divisions surrounding marriage. We affirmed that God’s creation of humanity is a gift and is blessed by God. This means that the body of an individual holds a dignity that cannot be taken away.1 Furthermore, we see in each other the image of God’s “infinite love and glory.”2 Every human being is an image of God’s love as provided for by the mission of Christ.

The Call states in section 1.2: It is in Christ’s mission that we know the grace of God and God’s faithful love for every human being (Jn 3:16; Col. 1:15–20; Rom. 5:18–19; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:14–17; I Pt. 2:9).xi Humanity is offered new birth into a living hope through Christ’s resurrection (1 Pt.1:3; 2 Pt. 1:14). As God’s image-bearers, human beings are called to love God and to love each other (1 Jn. 4:11).xii

In this way, the bishops of this diocese affirmed the Archbishop’s of Canterbury’s statement that “the Call is about Human Dignity and is also about Sexuality. The reason the two are combined is that its central theological foundation is that all human beings are of equal worth, loved by God and are those for whom Jesus died on the Cross and rose to life. As St Paul says again and again in Romans, “there is no distinction.”3

As for the bishops of the Diocese of Texas, we believe that inclusion means recognizing that all baptized members of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church and our diocese, are welcomed and honored and share in Christ’s mission.

We affirmed the whole Call on Human Dignity, but the following statement in section 3 is part of the call and important to mention here:

“Prejudice on the basis of gender or sexuality threatens human dignity. Given Anglican polity, and especially the autonomy of Provinces, there is disagreement and a plurality of views on the relationship between human dignity and human sexuality. Yet, we experience the safeguarding of dignity in deepening dialogue. It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that “all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation are full members of the

1 International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue (ICAOTD), In the Image and Likeness of God: A Hope-Filled Anthropology (The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith & Order (IASCUFO), Created in the Image of God: The Divine Gift and Call to Humanity: An Anglican Theological Anthropology: Unity, Faith & Order Paper No. 3 (London: ACC, 2021), 9, 12, 14–25, 42 https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/460188/UFO_IASCUFO_Papers-3-and-4- God-So-LovedtheWorld_v2_en.pdf)

2 “The Buffalo Statement”, 2015), 5–12. Lambeth 1998, I.10c; IASCUFO, Created in the Image of God, 75–77.

3 Archbishop’s Address on Dignity at Lambeth

Body of Christ” and to be welcomed, cared for, and treated with respect (I.10, 1998). Many Provinces continue to affirm that same gender marriage is not permissible. Lambeth Resolution I.10 (1998) states that the “legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions” cannot be advised. Other Provinces have blessed and welcomed same sex union/marriage after careful theological reflection and a process of reception. As Bishops we remain committed to listening and walking together to the maximum possible degree, despite our deep disagreement on these issues.”

For some, the call we affirmed reminds us that those in the Diocese of Texas who hold a historic understanding of the teaching on marriage, hold a view shared by the vast majority of the Churches in the Anglican Communion. The call also affirms that some churches have discerned that same gender marriage is revealed to have an important place within our tradition. Those who affirm marriage for all people find that they, too, have a growing number of allies and partners in the Anglican Communion.

Like the Archbishop, we wish to be clear. Both positions are held by individuals who love Jesus Christ, who do deep bible study, and who believe that holding their position is necessary for their context.

We also recognize that in the wider global context there is a danger to LGBTQ+ people, those who associate or are allies, and for those whose churches are in relationship with those who support marriage for all. So, we recognize that gender, sexual violence, abuse of the vulnerable or violence against minorities, women, or individuals of the LGBTQ+ community must be counteracted.

We are called to be honest and truthful about where we are as an Anglican Communion. This truth is

similar to the Unity and Mission work that we in the diocese accomplished in 2012. The Call states the reality of life in the Communion today. There is no mention of sanctions, or exclusion in 1.10 1998.

There is much mention of pastoral care. We have a plurality of views. As Lambeth 1.10 also states: “all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation are full members of the Body of Christ” and are to be welcomed, cared for, and treated with respect.”4

Yet, dignity is not narrowly an issue of gender and sexuality. We also affirmed, that.

“It is the mind of the Anglican Communion that acts and attitudes against the dignity of God’s children are sin. The legacies of colonialism, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and other abuses of power continue to impact our communities.(xix) Some have been enriched and some impoverished. International economic systems, built upon unjust structures of exploitation, have created dehumanizing conditions. The deep inequalities in access to land, health and education, exploitation of the young, unjust labour practices, mistreatment of ethnic minorities, migrants and refugees, the inhumanity of human trafficking, religious persecution, pressures on those guided by their freedom of conscience, oppression of LGBTQ persons, gender-based violence, war and sexual violence in conflict, in part, reveal such sin. Hospitality to all and faithfulness to each are key marks of a godly community (1 Pt. 4:8–10).”

This means that we affirm that there are political, economic, and environmental ways in which human dignity is challenged and people are abused by others. This is important because it reminds us that issues we face in the US are also issues faced by our siblings across the communion, and that we have much in common as we seek to give voice to the oppressed and in situations and cases where human dignity is taken away.

4 I.10, 1998 and Lambeth 2022 Call on Dignity.

We also recognize that the majority of the bishops representing the majority of the communion intend to walk together. A majority of bishops at Lambeth did not sign on to statements seeking further division from provinces who have done their theological work on marriage and expanded it for all people. The majority of the communion bishops understand our context and wish to continue to walk with us.

I hope that you will see that the Episcopal Diocese of Texas is very much in relationship with the wider Anglican Communion, that we are truthfully and honestly walking together despite difference; and moreover, that we support and affirm the dignity of all people regardless of who they are and where they find themselves in the debate.

What we see here is what we know in Texas. If we will but study the Bible, worship and pray together, and undertake the work of the diocese – as well as that of mission through evangelism and service – we will be unified. Why? Because of the clarity that it is God in Christ Jesus who undertakes this unity

through the power of the Holy Spirit, it is Christ who gathers us in with his arms upon the hardwood of the cross, and that we recognize each other as Christ’s beloved because we are made by God through Christ.

This fall, each of us will have so much to tell you and so much to share, utilizing various avenues of communication.

Faithfully yours,

The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, IX Bishop of Texas

The Rt. Rev. Jeff Fisher, Bishop Suffragan

The Rt. Rev. Kathryn Ryan, Bishop Suffragan

The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Mayer, Assisting Bishop

The Rt. Rev. Hector Monterroso, Bishop Assistant

LAMBETH IN REVIEW