Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Links to Lambeth : Better Late Than Never...

Though I am adverse to my own possible commentary on the doings and goings-on at the Lambeth Conference, I am not adverse to helping the readership find information on the conference itself. There are many American priests, as well as the contingent of bishops, attending the event, and many of them are blogging about their experiences and days across The Pond.

Below are links to the most informative and well-written blogs. I have also included some written by those outside of our country. You will find some serious and analytic, others you will find humorous and irreverent, and yet they all have something to contribute to the understanding of what exactly is taking place. It's always good, I think, to have a variety of perspectives on the same event so one may have a good overview of what is precisely--or imprecisely--influencing and shaping the Communion.

One general source of information is Episcopal Life Online. Here you can find specific info on the participation of the Presiding Bishop, the uninvited yet present +Gene Robinson, as well as video and pictures of various events and venues.

Another American source is the Episcopal Café, offering a wide variety of topics, experiences, observations and commentary from various reporters, writers and clergy. You can also go to the Episcopal Church USA and find a wealth of Lambeth information, especially at Newsline.

American bloggers who are priests are also covering events and making observations from afar. Telling Secrets by Elizabeth Kaeton is one of the most revealing and intimate views of the real people who's lives will be effected by decisions there. Follow her Lambeth experiences each day.

Mark Harris, another American priest, gives us an analytic view of what lies beneath the surface of all the chit-chat among the committees and the food lines as bishops wait to be fed…what an image. You can visit him at Preludium for his erudite commentary.

Integrity's own Susan Russell blogs from London on the day to day gamut of meetings and interviews, especially in regard to the Windsor Continuation Group and its nonsense [oh dear! Did I just comment on something!]. You can read all the dirt here at An Inch At A Time. Oh, and if you would, pray for Susan+ as she just lost her mother.

With all this serious business, one must have respite. For that I strongly urge you to visit Of Course I Could Be Wrong, a blog by Jonathan Hagar, priest of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This is the light and sarcastic side of Lambeth, the side where the Communion can laugh at itself and look at itself in the mirror and guffaw with the absurdity of all the mountains that some bishops and dioceses make out of mole hills. I insist that you visit Jonathan+ as doing so will put things into perspective as well as lighten the Anglican burden.

Lisa Fox's blog, My Manner of Life, is also a window upon Lambeth though she is writing from Missouri. She has her connections and her reflections are a bit from Lambeth, a bit from home, and a bit from others. Still she writes well her thoughts and views in a clear and concise way that touches deeply our Episcopal identity.

If you prefer to keep track of our Presiding Bishop ++Katherine, as well as view the general goings-on at Lambeth,you can do so at Episcopal Life Online's Multimedia page. You can also find picture galleries as well.

And to read and consider what the Blogging Bishops have to say about their days at the Conference, you can read all about that in The Lambeth Journal where different bishops comment and reflect on issues and events each day, and each day, a different duo of bishops does the commentary.

I hope that by giving you some place to start, you can journey to Lambeth yourself--virtually and in your prayers as this major conference takes place. Even if Lambeth does not directly or intensely influence what happens in the Episcopal Church USA, it does have the potential to influence--for better or for ill--the lives of Anglicans in the far-flung reaches of the Communion, where tribalism and ignorance are the fodder for the day. Where torture continues as the norm by "Christians" against the Gospel-believing Christians who are persecuted all the day long for who they are in Christ. I urge you to hold them in prayer especially and speak out against the wrongful use of our Lord's name to perpetrate evil and wrongdoing against those who truly love God. Take a moment now to pray for the victims of these modern day "crusades".

In Christ who made us and loves us,

Catherine

1 comment:

Lisa Fox said...

I'm honored to be included among such luminaries, Catherine. Deep thanks.