Bishops from the American Episcopal Church and the Church of England comprised almost 40 per cent of the bishops present at the 2008 Lambeth Conference, an investigation by The Church of England Newspaper has determined.On Aug 8, the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council stated the 2008 Lambeth Conference “involved the participation of some 680 bishops and 3,000 participants.”
However, only 617 Anglican bishops registered for the conference and no more than 600 Anglican bishops appear in the Conference’s group photo.
The Anglican Communion comprises 729 dioceses, missionary districts, and ecclesial entities divided into 38 provinces and six extra-provincial jurisdictions.
In May 2007 the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams extended invitations to all bishops exercising “episcopal pastoral ministry;” save for the bishops of New Hampshire, Harare and the African-consecrated American bishops of Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.
Some 469 diocesan bishops, 140 suffragan and assistant bishops, and eight bishops without territorial sees, accepted Dr Williams invitation. The largest block came from the Episcopal Church which sent 127 bishops followed by the Church of England with 113 bishops.
Rounding out the top five in numbers of bishops present were Australia, 39; Canada, 37; and Southern Africa 27, with these five provinces sending over 55 per cent of all bishops present.
The majority of African bishops boycotted the Lambeth Conference with 209 of the continent’s 324 diocesan bishops absent.
As many African as American bishops attended Lambeth with the continent sending 127 bishops: 115 diocesan and 12 suffragan.
Bishops from every Province but Uganda registered for the conference. Two Nigerians bishops took part. The Church of Nigeria had one registration: the Rt Rev Cyril Okorocha of Owerri.
However, Bishop Okorocha pulled out of the meeting at the last minute after having faxed in a confirmation of his attendance on July 19.
The second Nigerian bishop at Lambeth was a Roman Catholic archbishop, part of the seven-man team from the Vatican.
One Rwandan bishop was present, and Kenya had 17 bishops registered. However, only five of the Kenyan bishops were present for Lambeth and one left after the bishops’ retreat.
The Archbishop of Canterbury did not register for the conference and the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Rev John Saxbee was shown as being absent according to the official tally. Bishop Saxbee’s registration was mislaid by conference organizers.
When he arrived at Canterbury on July 16, Bishop Saxbee was told he was not down on the list, but would be “sorted out” by the conference staff.
However he was told that he did not have a room for the conference.
Bishop Saxbee asked if the room held for the Bishop of Salisbury, who had registered for the conference but would not be attending due to a stroke, was available.
By day’s end he was registered as Bishop of Lincoln but housed as Bishop of Salisbury.
While the registration total of 617 is not exact due to the last-minute additions and cancellations, it does give an accurate approximation of the total number of bishops present, as the conference group photo taken on July 26 pictures 630 individuals; of whom no more than 602 are Anglican bishops.
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