It is unfortunate that some 50 bishops have decided to boycott some or all of the Lambeth Conference this summer because of the presence of women bishops. When more than 800 bishops from all over the worldwide Anglican Communion gather in Canterbury in July for their once-a-decade meeting, there will be 11 women bishops present. Eight of them are from the United States, two from Canada and one from New Zealand.

The bishops who have chosen to boycott various aspects of the conference are doing so because they oppose on theological grounds the opening of the priesthood and the episcopate to women - still an accepted and recognized position in nearly all of the Anglican Communion. Keeping in mind that the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference has no canonical clout and that it is by invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, it is still unfortunate that some of the bishops will not take part fully. The issues being discussed at Lambeth are contemporary and of importance to the future of Anglicans everywhere. Most of the bishops who have declined full participation tend to have Anglo-Catholic or evangelical points of view, and would offer a perspective of traditional Anglican theology which ought to be heard. It is a pity they have chosen to do otherwise.