On the opening night Williams said the 14th Lambeth Conference would not settle the disputes dividing the Anglican Communion, but an effort must be made to keep the conversation going to preserve the integrity of the church.
He hoped the conference would eschew a political solution to the theological divisions within the church and focus on “building relationships.” While this would not settle the disputes of doctrine and discipline “it is certain that without the building of relationships the challenges will never be resolved,” Williams said, according to bishops present at the opening session.
“I don’t have great expectations” for Lambeth, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh said. It was important to give voice to the views of evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics marginalized by the dominant liberal wing of the Episcopal Church, and he welcomed the opportunity for “strengthening the bonds of relationship” with bishops from the developing world. However, he was “deeply saddened” that the gap between left and right now seemed unbridgeable.
The pleas for dialogue at this stage rang false, Bishop Venables said. “Although much has been said about talking, it seems to me that on one is listening,” he said. “I’m on the telephone,” but “no one has called me to say ”˜let’s talk’ this over,” Bishop Venables said.