350 BISHOPS AT LAMBETH

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28630, 5 July 1958, Page 10

350 BISHOPS AT LAMBETH

“Summit Talks For Church ”

[From a staff correspondent in London, of the “Sydney Morning Herald.’’}'

Nearly 350 bishops have now assembled in London for the summit talks of the Anglican Church —the Lambeth conference, which will set the course of the Church for the next 10 years.

What will that course be? . . . A new bold one, to give a clear moral leadership on challenging issues? . . . Or a cautious path of compromise out of an ecclesiastical talking shop? That is the blunt question being put by London commentators.

The conference, which opened on Thursday with a service in Canterbury Cathedral, is the ninth since 1867. The bishops have come from most parts of the world to the only point of assembly for the Anglican episcopate. And between last Thursday and a closing service in Westminster Abbey on August 10 they will run through an agenda which in one way or another impinges on all the many millions of Christians of the world, who belong to the Anglican Church. The conference has neither legislative nor executive authority. No matter what is decided, no matter by what majority nothing is binding on the member churches. But in practice the member churches, which are in communion with the See of Canterbury, almost always accept the decisions. So the Lambeth conference does matter . . . And, in the view of many of the visitors, must be made to matter a great deal. It is not that they want spectacular decisions, but decisions of clarity . . . and guidance. “Bible as a Whole”

There is first the Bible, its status, its authority, and place in the thought world of the scientific age. Past Lambeth conferences

have pronounced on specific aspects of the Bible, but now the conference is being asked to pronounce on the Bible as a whole.

In the last 10 years much new interpretation has been discussed, not just on the grounds of a new source of discoveries, such as the Dead Sea scrolls, but on how the Bible is to speak meaningfully to

the multitudes in the present age. Some conservative bishops are known to be opposed to altering the old of the Bible’s messages, others are expected to insist that the Bible must be reassessed. It could be that deadlock will result But if it does, critics are warning, is the layman to have no new guidance? The second challenge before the conference is a special report on “The Family in Modern Society," compiled by 19 theologians and sociologists at the behest of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Geoffrey Fisher. The signatories confess that they have been obliged to “offer some things which the bishops might understandably not have chosen for themselves, some from which their first inclination might have been to turn away.” But they feel the bishops must face. up to the problems of over-population and to the fact that family planning was gathering momentum at an increasing rate whatever the Church thought about it. The Church must think about it—now. Use of Contraceptives The report declares that to produce children without regard to the consequences is to use procreative power irresponsibly and all the signatories agreed that “a conscientious decision to use contraceptives would, in certain circumstances, be justified.” On other family matters the report looks boldly, not just at Western society but to other societies, where different standards might well be used in judgment For instance, the report asks why infant baptism is sometimes denied to children of African marriages not blessed by the

Church; it questions the use of excommunication for polygamy in the present state of African society. The implication of this questioning is that the bishops must deal with the world as they find it, and not as they would like

it to be. Another theme of discussion is to be “Conflicts Between and Within Nations.” What some of the bishops are hoping for here is not a detailed series of resolutions on conflicts of the' present time, but some declarations of principles. Some would like these to include a broad Church attitude to the H-bomb; others feel that discussions on this controversy are going on loud enough elsewhere. “Must Not Avoid Moral Issues” But some outside critics feel that the Lambeth conference must not shirk any moral issue if the Anglican Church intends to rally its moral forces. They do not want or expect a conformity of thinking, but they are pointing out that 10 years will pass before there is another opportunity for the bishops to give a collective lead to Anglican thought. There are two other main items on the agenda—“ The Progress of the Anglican Communion” and “The Unity of the Church.” The first subject will cover the growing shortage of clergy, particularly in Britain and in overseas missions. In the last year this problem has been highlighted at many diocesan conferences with frequent reports of churches which used to have three curates and now have none; of parishes, particularly in the north of England, which have difficulty in finding a vicar. Church as a Career The average age of the Anglican clergy is climbing. It is now more than 50. The Lambeth conference will probably search for reasons for this. Some, who con-

rider themselves realists, offer one reason—that the days when young men of solid families would ponder . . . the Army, the Bar or the Church? . . . have gone, not just for the church but for all three callings. They think that the church must look more and more to a wide range of sources for its recruits.

As for “Unity of the Church.” this is a subject which is almost a ruling passion of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Recently he was saying that it was *’a scandal and an impendent” that there should be divisions between the churches.

“It is now accepted that Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Church, meant it to be one. Whereas 40 years ago nobody but a .ew wild enthusiasts thought :t possible, now every sensible member of every community knows that it is possible." Big Changes Not Expected Last the result of conversations between the Church of England and the Methodist Church have not yet been published, and few expect any early dramatic results.

But the conference will come down to brass tacks with some reunion schemes from churches in Asia in which Baptist Churches are participating. One is a plan to unite churches in Ceylon and another in North India. These plans are not just of local interest —principles are involved which may well be applicable later in the western hemisphere—and they present a challenge to boldness. That quality is what many of the interested observers are hoping to see displayed by this Lambeth conference.