Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has officially announced the Lambeth Conference dates in an Advent Letter to the 38 primates around the world. Archbishop Williams, at whose invitation the bishops come to the conference, outlined his hopes for this global meeting of Anglican bishops. He spoke of the conference as an opportunity for “individual Christian pastors to meet Jesus afresh, for our church to be renewed in mission, for the world to hear good news.”
The conference, which meets every 10 years, will take place at the University of Kent in Canterbury from July 16 to Aug. 3, 2008. Archbishop Williams emphasized the enabling for ministry aspect of the conference. He said, “The main focus I long to see at this conference is the better equipping of bishops to fulfil their task as agents and enablers of mission, as co-workers with God’s mission in Jesus Christ.”
A Design Group for the 2008 Lambeth Conference, appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and comprised of one Archbishop, five bishops, one lay-woman and one priest from different churches throughout the Anglican Communion, met in London in December with staff of the Anglican Communion Office and Lambeth Palace to continue planning.
Under the Chairmanship of Archbishop Sir Ellison Pogo, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, the Design Group made significant headway in helping the Archbishop of Canterbury to further articulate his hopes, aim, and shape for the 2008 international gathering of bishops.
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