pp3da8d28b.png
pp3aead740.png
 About Us
 Home Page
 Special Events
 Regular Events
 Related Sites
 Gallery
 St Michael's Parish Church
What’s New
pp5533b116.gif
pp5533b116.gif
pp5533b116.gif
pp5533b116.gif
pp5533b116.gif
pp5533b116.gif
pp5533b116.gif
Winterbourne, Bristol
Tel: 01454 776518,
lesfreeman@talk21.com  
WebMaster: Les Freeman
pp894eab69.png
pp7f322314.png
ppf9504cee.png
ppb9baa53b.png
ppb4de07cf.png
ppa286dafd.png
pp3bdadb26.png
ppc5d7d3e6.png
pp3880ed09.png
ppe7c91ebb.png
ppc85139d7.png
ppc139b160.png
pp3beaa6b0.png
ppe4a81932.png
pp2f9a459b.png
ppef68d830.png
pp718f9e42.png
ppa8f06233.png
ppf869fa9e.png
pp1efacce6.png
pp1b7bfb1b.png
ppe7f5e39a.png
pp0362fe32.png
pp116c8704.png
ppf1110d0f.png
ppcd2ed2bd.png
pp6c8d7f58.png
pp9fcb16d1.png
ppf3a4e479.png
ppb0bdeb1c.png
ppb0bdeb1c.png
ppb0bdeb1c.png
ppb0bdeb1c.png
ppc603cf4d.png
pp5972ea4d.png
ppb0bdeb1c.png
ppd074d3ba.png
pp832ec1b4.png
What’s New
My third hope is that the organisers get the balance right between pace and space.  At first sight the programme and daily schedule looks pretty daunting to me.  Twenty days of input, reflection, discussion, and wrestling with complex issues and competing priorities is obviously a marathon and not a sprint.  Given that many bishops will need to keep in touch with their offices in order to keep on top of correspondence and pastoral situations – and will have washing to do (!) – opportunity and occasion simply ‘to be’ is crucial.  In our very driven world I hope that a ten yearly Conference of bishops will be marked by the ‘unhurried rhythms of grace’ which Jesus himself modelled so well.

My fourth hope is that Lambeth 2008 provides a compassionate, compelling and uplifting witness to Christian faith, to our Lord, and to God’s power to heal and transform individuals and societies.  For all the anxieties around this Conference, including my own, Lambeth 2008 has the potential to re-energise bishops and re-focus the agenda on what is of first importance.  That requires better and more gracious handling of disagreement and respecting differing perspectives without denouncing brothers and sisters in Christ.  It also needs a willingness to receive rebuke and admit that a course of action was wrong.  The gospel is magnificent good news for the whole world and opens up God’s way for human flourishing.  I fervently hope that Lambeth 2008 can be a means of confidently, sensitively and persuasively articulating this reality in fresh ways ‘so that the world might believe’.

Four hopes for the Lambeth Conference.   Were any of them realised?  You may already be able to tell.  If they were not, I will not lose heart and I hope and pray that you will not either.  God does not give up on his Church – even when Anglican bishops cannot take hold of the great opportunities God offers.

+Lee
(Next)
pp5533b116.gif