Father Make Us One

We are almost at the end of the Lambeth Conference 2008. I have been both sustained and challenged by the graceful expressions of bishops and spouses who have repeated over and over to each other, in hearings, in Bible studies, in indaba groups two things: we will not leave one another, and I believe and think certain things at odds with some others in the Communion, and these beliefs have not changed.

I know that when we leave this Conference, then, that we will not bear news that some people want to hear. We will not have a ratified Covenant for the Communion (there was never an expectation in the process that we would). It is also unlikely that we will have definitively turned back the St. Andrew’s Draft of the Covenant, either.

We will I believe make important statements that reflect a newly discovered, common commitment to the relief of global suffering, including the urgency to address the environmental crisis. This is what we should do from my point of view, and I have heard the same from bishops representing every part of the Communion.

This will not be enough for those who wish to have either a strong rebuke of The Episcopal Church and Canada over human sexuality on one side, and I also doubt that something I think incredibly important, a Communion-wide commitment to safeguarding the civil rights and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people will be affirmed.

But we will remain committed to one another.  So my hope is genuine hope, in the theological sense – I do not know how it will finally look to live in the Communion, nor what the Communion itself will look like, but I believe in a good outcome for this.

We may have the will and vision to help in a substantial way to halve extreme poverty by 2015, and we may partner with civil society and other faith communities to avert the impending environmental crisis (one estimate quoted here is that there are only about 100 months before the climate change process will be irreversible).

I mentioned in an earlier posting that the awareness of the great web of prayers supporting us in our work has been foundational for my hope. Let me add that I went to the Night Prayer service, held each night at 9:45, early last week. It is conducted by a team of religious from around the Communion, including the Franciscans and the Melanesian Brothers and Sisters.

The service was beautiful in its sincerity and in the purity of the Melanesian polyphony singing. At the end, in the enuring silence, I sat quietly, preparing to go out of the building. Suddenly, one of the Melanesian brothers began singing a wordless tune. Then all joined in, singing, “Father make us one. Father make us one. That the world may see that you sent your son, Father make us one.” I believe God will answer this prayer. I’ve included a video clip of the Melanesian brother and sisters singing and dancing before the photograph of all the bishops was taken, to give you a sense of the joy and beauty in their music and their faces.

Becoming one will not be easy, however. Besides the clearly stated differences of those who are attending the conference, it is also true that over 200 bishops are not here in protest over the presence of The Epsicopal Church bishops (among others). I believe that these absences were enabled by the disinviting of Gene Robinson to the conference. Once a scapegoating exile has taken place, others may be actively added to the list of the unaccepted, and others may self- select out of the groups.

The recommendation to not invited Gene to the Lambeth Conference was in the Windsor Report. As we seek to be open to all it could mean to be part of the Body of Christ, we must be aware that becoming one will necessitate overcoming this severe negative dynamism set in motion by not inviting Gene.

Hearing the Melanesian Brothers and Sisters sing, leading us all in “Father Make Us One,” helps me know that this barrier to Communion can also dissolve as we move towards it, together.