[Guardian Unlimited] 23 Jul 2008--So why aren't the liberals itchier? This is the big question. Is it because they are too weak to form a protest lobby? No: the answer is more complex. The reason is that the liberals have a deep trust that the communion's position on sexuality will liberalise, given time. Of course they cannot say this – because it contravenes the existing orthodoxy, and also because it would sound colonial – "let's wait for the developing nations to catch up". In other words, they follow their leader's example: bite your tongue and wait for the Holy Spirit to enlighten the communion.
This approach dominates the tone and structure of this conference. At Sunday's eucharist, the preacher was the Right Rev Duleep de Chickera, the Bishop of Colombo. He insisted that the church must make space "for everyone and anyone, regardless of colour, gender, ability, sexual orientation. Unity in diversity is a cherished Anglican tradition – a spirituality if you like." And the following night the bishops were addressed by an American theologian called Brian McLaren, who was careful not to say too clearly that he was a liberal on the gay issue.
This is the "unofficial official" line of the conference: reform must come, but slowly-slowly, so that the cause of global evangelism is not harmed, and Anglican unity not further broken. In theory of course, the conference has no "line" at all – bishops will listen to each other, and then a "reflection" statement will be produced that affirms the existing orthodoxy. This is why so many evangelicals have boycotted: they knew that this tacit reformist agenda would be present.
A revealing liberal view of the 2008 Lambeth Conference.
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