The world’s Anglican bishops turned Saturday to the enormous task at the heart of their once-a-decade summit: trying to keep the Anglican family from breaking apart over the Bible and homosexuality.
With its private prayer phase over, the Lambeth Conference gets down to business but is hobbled by a boycott: about one-quarter of the invited bishops — mostly theological conservatives from Africa — are not attending.
The 650 bishops who are here include a mix of traditionalists, moderates and liberals, all with divergent ideas about what Anglicans should believe and how their fellowship should operate.
The conference’s opening public worship is set for Sunday in Canterbury Cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, has led a three-day closed-door session this week focused on the role of the bishops as seen through the Gospel.
Williams designed the entire gathering without any votes or resolutions. Instead, starting Monday, the bishops will hold daily Bible study and small group discussions. They plan to release their collective “reflections” on the meeting when it ends Aug. 3.