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Bishop Gene Robinson at Lambeth

11/03/2008 10:00:00


Gene Robinson at Lambeth © not advert

The House of Bishops of the US Episcopal church has been informed that Bishop Gene Robinson will not be invited to the Lambeth Conference in an official capacity. Episcopal Life Online has a report here.

Three Episcopal bishops have been negotiating with the Archbishop of Canterbury's staff in the hope that a way could be found for Bishop Gene to attend, perhaps as some kind of 'observer', but this has not proved possible. The Lead has the text of their report.

An invitation to Bishop Gene to have some sort of official role within the 'Marketplace' area of the conference was offered, but this was declined. He will however be in the Marketplace in an unofficial capacity.

Bishop Gene Robinson's response to the House of Bishops is again posted on the Lead. An excerpt:


"I have been most disappointed in that my desire was to participate in Bible study and small groups, and that is not being offered. It makes me wonder: if we can't sit around a table and study the Bible together, what kind of communion do we have and what are we trying to save?

I am dismayed and sickhearted that we can't sit around a table, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and study scripture together.

It has been a very difficult 48 hours sitting here and hearing your plans for Lambeth.

In my most difficult moments, it feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd."


Comment from the blogs:

Additional thoughts

Bishops Gene's new book 'In the eye of the storm' is to be published by Canterbury Press in the UK in April. The evangelican bookshop chain Wesley Owen are to be the official bookshop of the Lambeth Conference - it is therefore perhaps not surprising that they are taking pre-orders for the book. A year or two ago though I'd have been surprised to see a book by a gay bishop in a Wesley Owen shop. A sign of change perhaps?

'In the eye of the storm' can be pre-ordered from Church House Bookshop here.

Update: See our story in the newspaper: Lambeth ban on Robinson upheld

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Bishop Spong, in his address at the Washington National Cathedral on "Abundant Life for All" makes the statement that Bishop Gene Robinson is the first HONEST gay bishop. He went on to say he could name names of gay ones in the Episcopal House of Bishops but wouldn't do so. It would be interesting to know how many gay bishops there are in the Anglican Communion.

Michael McCarty | 14/03/2008 02:46:02

'I am dismayed and sickhearted that we can't sit around a table, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and study scripture together.' I don't want to belittle Bishop Robinson's sense of exclusion, but I wonder how many sisters would be sitting round a table of Bishops doing Bible study?

Jenny Baker | 14/03/2008 09:41:54

How is it exactly that membership in the Anglican Communion is defined by province - through the ACC's schedule of membership - but that a single prelate in England nonetheless gets to decide which individual bishops of those member provinces get to attend the decennial meeting of all Anglican Communion bishops? All issues of sexuality and border crossings aside, something is seriously wrong with this model for dialogue and fellowship. It should be fixed; for heaven's sake invite all bishops.

Christopher Worthley | 14/03/2008 16:26:50

The decision of the Bishops to exclude Bishop Gene Robinson from attending the Lambeth Conference reminds one of George Orwell's novel 'Animal Farm'.

"All pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others."

Malcolm Uren | 15/03/2008 09:38:06



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