The Lambeth Conference: Theology, History, Polity and Purpose. Edited by Paul Avis and Benjamin M. Guyer

Abstract

In this compendious collection, there are perhaps two running themes which return to the surface as the streams of the various tributaries come together in a reservoir of resources in preparation for the 2020 Lambeth Conference. The first theme might be summarized as ‘what sort of animal is the Lambeth Conference?’ From the first conference onwards there has always been a reluctance or indeed refusal to see the Conference as a synod, or indeed a meeting which issues statements carrying with them a mandatory authority. Second, there is the theme of ‘what did successive conferences contribute in some of the key areas of ecclesiology and church teaching?’ As with many essay collections, there is variability, not so much in this case in terms of quality, but instead in depth of analysis. Some essays are broad overviews or surveys; others are detailed analyses of specific issues. So, in Part I, ‘Theological, Historical and Constitutional Studies’, Stephen Pickard and Paul Avis pitch the first two essays at the more general level. Pickard surveys the place of the Lambeth Conference in the context of the four instruments of communion within Anglican polity—the other three include the Primates’ Meeting, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the office of Archbishop of Canterbury. Avis explains the background to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s role in relation to the Lambeth Conference. Both essays are useful and particularly for those who are engaging with the nature of communion within Anglicanism for the first time. Benjamin Guyer’s essay moves us to a deeper level of analysis, engaging with the thorny issue of how this ‘unprecedented step’ of calling together a gathering of Anglican bishops worldwide would relate to the Royal Supremacy within the Church of England. Guyer’s argument is fascinating, focusing on conciliarism and the work of Nicholas of Cusa in fifteenth-century Germany and also on the crossovers between Church and State in England. New ground is broken here and Guyer argues that the Lambeth Conference was from the beginning effectively intended to be a synod. It was the Royal Supremacy in England which prohibited this from becoming an agreed reality.