Lambeth Conference Daily Account: Bishops Thomas Ely of Vermont, Greg Rickel of Olympia
Episcopal News Service, Canterbury. July 26, 2008 [072608-01]
Bishops Thomas Ely of Vermont and Greg Rickel of Olympia offer the following Daily Account for July 26 at the 2008 Lambeth Conference in Canterbury.
The topic for today was Safeguarding Creation – the Bishop and the environment.
We started the day with Eucharist presided by the Province of Australia. Based on the stewardship of creation, Bishop George Browning of Canberra, head of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, preached and offered a passionate reflection about the concern of creation and sustainability, and that we need to provide the moral leadership for this life-transforming challenge of our time.
Bible Study focused on John 9:1–41: "He kept saying, I am the man." This is the story of the man born blind who was given sight by Our Lord. We are finding that Bible study is challenging, enriching and deepening our relationship more and more each day. In Bible study, there is an opportunity to share our context for mission and ministry as bishop.
In the Indaba group, we looked at the creation narrative in Genesis 1 and spoke about the challenges in our own context for dealing with the environmental crisis. We spoke about the interrelatedness of all creation. We talked about South Pacific islands that are gone, the snow on Mount Kilimanjaro that is melting, and the rainy season that no longer exists in many parts of the world.
Every day, there have been self-select groups on the environment, and the plenary program last night, presented by Professor Chris Rapley, director of Science Museum and director of the British Antarctic Survey, has brought a greater awareness of the impact of the environmental crisis. Several bishops gave testimony to their commitment to the environment and the need for bishops to exercise moral leadership. Reduce, reuse, recycle and, now is added, respect.
In our Baptismal Covenant, we talk about the respect and dignity of every human being, and we need to expand that to embrace our respect for all creation.
Today was the day that bishops and spouses gathered for the Lambeth Conference official photo.
Note: There will be no Daily Account issued on Sunday, July 27, 2008.