Lambeth Conference seen as ‘positive’

Press, 28 September 1988, Page 11

Lambeth Conference seen as ‘positive’

The decision in favour of ordaining women priests was only one of the positive outcomes of the Lambeth Conference, said the Bishop of Christchurch, the Rt Rev. Maurice Goodall. Bishop Goodall and Mrs Goodall returned to Christchurch yesterday after attending the twelfth Lambeth Conference, held at the University of Kent last month. He said that in spite of some initial fears by Church people that the Anglican Church might , become divided over some of the conference topics, this did not happen. “The discussion on ordination of women occupied only two days of the three weeks,” he said. “Other bishops were most interested in the New Zealand experience.” In New Zealand, the Anglican Church first ordained women 11 years ago. The decision to allow each country to proceed at its own speed on the issue was wise, Bishop Goodall said. The ability of the Anglican Church to accommodate compromise and accept differences as a strength without splitting apart was a triumph and

BISHOP GOODALL could serve as a model for unity between denominations. Accepting differences within a Church did not necessarily mean a denomination lost distinctiveness, he said. Encouraging discussions had been held with other Churches at the conference, he said. The strength that Third World Anglican countries and the more economically advanced Anglican countries could gain from one another was a further progressive outcome of the conference. Links had been established between Churches in the two groups of countries that would enable

them to share each other’s faith and concerns for justice and freedom from violence. The attendances of youth delegates at the Lambeth Conference enabled bishops to listen to what young people had to say in a way that perhaps the Church had not done before, Bishop Goodall said. The conference was attended by Anglican bishops from 164 countries. Bishop Goodall said that he felt by sharing their cultural concerns he had learnt lessons that might be useful in discussing biculturalism in New Zealand. New Zealand led the way in some areas, particularly the strength of the lay ministry, while England was still quite conservative in many areas and strongly rooted in the clerical tradition. A visit to Liverpool had reaffirmed that the Church was very much in the forefront of activities to benefit the economically depressed. "Congregations may have dropped over the years, but we have lost the more nominal members and are left with the fitter and more committed from which to expand,” Bishop Goodall said.