(ACNS) Before the bishops arrive in Canterbury for the 2008 Lambeth Conference, hundreds of them will enjoy a taste of another part of Britain.
Through the “Hospitality Initiative,” every bishop and spouse invited to the Lambeth Conference has also been invited to be the guest of an Anglican diocese in England, Wales, or Scotland. The response has been enormous, with hundreds accepting the invitation. They will spend five days in one of 57 dioceses stretching from Truro in the south to Moray, Ross and Caithness in the north and St David’s in the west.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to offer the gift of hospitality to representatives of our sister churches around the world,” says the Revd Mark Rodel, who is organising the Hospitality Initiative in the Diocese of Portsmouth, which will be hosting 11 bishops and their spouses from Ghana and the United States.
Through the initiative, the visiting bishops will have a chance to experience firsthand how the church lives out its mission in another part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It will also provide a unique opportunity for those in the host dioceses to encounter church leaders from another part of global Anglican family.
That’s actually pretty cool. I think that may do more to build bridges than the actual conference. I know my bishop is looking forward to presiding in Wales.