SPEAKERS around the Anglican Communion have reflected online, before a global audience, on the Lambeth Call on Human Dignity. They were taking part in the most recent of a series of webinars designed to take forward the recommendations of the 2022 Lambeth Conference and explore how they can find expression in congregations.
The Professor of Theology and Mission at Virginia Theological Seminary, Dr Robert Heaney, the original facilitator of the Call, said that this was “a distinct moment in Anglican history, when some of the most contentious and controversial issues that divide us were faced squarely and set in the context of faithful discernment.”
In exploring what it is to be “made in God’s image”, the Call sets out how human dignity can be undermined by personal or unsystematic injustice or abuse of power. “The legacies of colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and other abuses of power continue to impact our communities,” the Archbishop of Perth, the Most Revd Kay Goldsworthy, said.
“Some have been enriched and some impoverished. International economic systems built upon unjust structures of exploitation have created deeply dehumanising conditions.
“There are deep inequalities in access to land, to health and education; exploitation of the young, unjust labour practices, mistreatment of ethnic minorities, migrants and refugees, and the inhumanity of human trafficking and religious persecution. . . But the scripture calls us to offer hospitality to all and faithfulness to each.”
The Revd Domnic Misolo, of the Institute for Faith and Gender Empowerment, in Kenya, spoke of his experience as a child of a polygamous marriage, who had witnessed daily his father’s beating and abuse of his mother. He now works predominantly with men’s groups to change what he he described as the “toxic masculinity” of patriarchy.
He reflected on the question “How can we teach men openly and collectively that gender violence against women is a grave sin? And how do we bind and teach them to genuinely repent and seek forgiveness in a way which is restorative?” He spoke of the misinterpretation of the Bible to justify male power over women.
“The social gender norms that affect our communities normally come from the pulpits when our preachers preach. . . We need correct interpreters of scripture to affirm the dignity of all human beings,” he said. “We need to talk about patriarchy, so that they can be informed and talk about the role of men in ending sexual and gender violence.
“We want to see a thriving society, where we’re not going to have femicide in Kenya and East Africa, we’re not going to have female genital cutting that undermines the dignity of young girls. It’s my desire for justice to invite men to join me in this campaign, and be advocates for all men and women to stand up for human dignity and work together for the liberation of God’s people.”
A moving contribution came from Xoliswa Mnomiy, a 19-year-old albino girl who was present with Thembsie Mchunu, from the Mothers’ Union of South Africa. Mrs Mchunu had chosen to speak on albinism, which condemns a child to physical suffering — sight, hearing, and skin are all affected — marginalisation and worse.
“A woman giving birth to a child with albinism will be accused of sleeping with a white man. The child will be called ‘easy’,” she said. “Traditional healers will kill them for the body parts used to make a potion [to bring good luck]. So they live in fear. When a person with albinism dies, they cannot have a proper burial service, because of fear the corpse will be exhumed.”
She spoke of the work of the Mothers’ Union in teaching communities, visiting schools, and providing lotions for the sores that “make children run away from the poor child, who will end up having no friends. We advocate human dignity for those living with albinism: that they are made in God’s image and are just people like all of us.”
Miss Mnomiy spoke of the loss of connection with her mother when she was eight, and the moment, at the age of 17, when a schoolteacher intervened and she was invited to a Mothers’ Union conference. “I met with other people with albinism. We were given T-shirts, [on which was written] ‘I’m God’s Masterpiece,’” she said.
“We were given school shoes, hats to protect us from the sun, and skin lotions. I know now that there are some people that don’t want to kill us: they just care about us and love us. I know that I am God’s image, and I’m proud of myself because I know I am God’s masterpiece.”
The Bishop of Panama, the Rt Revd Julio Murray, addressed the dignity of migrants. “The definition of a migrant needs to be looked upon and changed, because many people would like to define migrants as something that is bad,” he said.
“Even Jesus was a migrant. My ancestors from the Caribbean, Barbados, and Jamaica came to Panama because it was important at the time to find jobs. They came to build the Panama Canal. Migration happens because of different things: some people migrate because of security, some because they need to find jobs, some because the climate justice issue is pushing them away from their context.
“Women and children become the most vulnerable people that are affected in migration; so it’s part and parcel of the work of the Church to show compassion for the person who’s migrating, to show them radical hospitality and have them understand that they, too, are included.”
Asked how churches could affirm the dignity of someone on the margins of society, the director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, the Most Revd Ian Ernest, suggested: “The first is to look the person in the eyes; the second is a smile. A smile means the grace of God and that is what encounter is all about — to bring people to know that he or she is worthy; to be able to accept [them] as they are and listen to [them] attentively. Attention is important, but compassionate intention is really the crucial aspect.”
On what “full inclusion” meant for LGBTQIA+ Christians, the Primate of Canada, the Most Revd Linda Nicholls, reflected, “In Canada, over the last four years, we have wrestled with what this looks like; and the first step was the recognition that they are made in the image of God and that that is not a barrier to things like ordination or participation in the fullness of the life of the Church and leadership; and to recognise and include and bring people into that leadership.
“It has also meant a journey that will not be accepted by all on this call, I’m sure. . . We continue that journey of listening and walking and trying to learn together. And I’d have to say that the examples I’ve seen of partnered intimate relationships have often been challenging to heterosexual relationships in the degree of commitment, of care, of loving the other sacrificially when they do that in the face of extreme prejudice from others, including within the Church.
“I believe scripture always has to come into conversation with the experience, in the moment, in the situation, and needs to be interpreted afresh in each generation, bringing together the tradition of what we’ve received, and being careful to listen to the Holy Spirit in the lives of everyone.
“And that’s not an easy thing, and it’s not always clear, but I believe we’re called to live together, loving one another, not judging one another, while we discern and wait for the Spirit to bring us into a unity of understanding.”
Canon Stephen Spencer, of the Anglican Communion Office, introduced the range of Bible-study notes and other resources available. The webinar was facilitated by the Anglican Communion’s deputy secretary general and its Bishop for Episcopal Ministry, Dr Jo Bailey Wells.
Participants and viewers were in Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Greece, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Congo, Myanmar, South Africa, France, and Italy. Dr Bailey Wells, referring to those in Nazareth, said “Hallelujah!”