Sarah Hey of Stand Firm is none too impressed with the Reflections document that emerged from Lambeth:

They open it—and they read some of the most vacuous, vague, misty-eyed, inherently-contradictory twaddle that I believe that I have ever had the privilege of skimming. Words fail me to describe the void, the barreness, the inanity, the complete absence of matter that exists, boundaried by the edges of that white space and black ink.

From here.

Hey, that sounds like a great quote for a sermon sometime.

As a journo, part of my job is to try to report as fairly as possible the mindset of those whom I might find hard to understand.

Over the past few days I have been struggling to understand those who believe the Lambeth conference has been a success.

Today I stumbled across a reflection on Lambeth written by Dr Anthony Russell the Bishop of Ely in the UK. In it he writes:

There can be no doubt that, as a leading article in The Times recently said, ‘the Conference has gone far better than the Archbishop or even the most optimistic Anglicans could have imagined’. It was a remarkable and in many senses unexpected success

and

Whilst there were still a very few Bishops willing to step outside and seek a platform elsewhere (their comments were duly relayed by the Press), the level of consensus on the proposed Covenant came as a surprise to the Conference organisers. Whilst the problems that beset the Communion have not been overcome - and there are certainly Bishops who are saying that they are not able to accepts of the moratoria - nonetheless, it was clear that there was a strong determination by the majority that it should work, and that the means to guarantee this end should be provided.

and finally he sums up his view in his conclusion:

The Lambeth Conference has put new heart into the Anglican Communion, significantly raised its profile, and strengthened its internal structures. The widespread agreement of the moratoria indicates some change of direction in the thinking of many in the Communion.

In my view the good bishop has neatly summarised the pro-Canterbury position.

However I am really struggling to understand how the bishop can believe that a moratorium respected only by a ‘majority’ is actually a moratorium? And thus how the idea that Lambeth is a ‘success’ can be held in good conscience. 

Is this just ‘liberal’ spin? Self-delusion? Or is there a more innocent explanation?

My only punt at an ‘innocent’ explanation is that English bishops are peculiarly provincial and parochial and really find it difficult to see the issues from a global perspective. ie It doesn’t really matter what the Americans (or Africans) do because they are ‘over there’. In other words, a problem is not ‘real’ unless it immediately and directly impacts the Church of England. This comes through very tangibly in many of NT Wright’s comments.

Love to hear explanations from others....

[Edit: clarified Ely quote and analysis]

Jeremy Halcrow - 07 August 2008 12:32 PM

Over the past few days I have been struggling to understand those who believe the Lambeth conference has been a success.
...
Love to hear explanations from others....

I would suggest that success should probably best be defined as having achieved a clear consensus on a way forward to resolving the current crisis within the Communion. On this measure it’s hard to see that this conference has achieved that. While there may be perceived progress towards a Covent, movement towards seeing this formalised and ratified seems to be glacially slow. Some are presumably hopeful that pleas for a continuing moratorium on gay ordinations will be respected until this Covenant is ratified. My personal opinion (and I claim no divine guidance on this matter) is that this is unduly optimistic. I suspect the Communion will limp along in semi-disorder until the fragile Communion is tested again by another irregular ordination.

Jeremy said:
Is this just ‘liberal’ spin? Self-delusion? Or is there a more innocent explanation?

My only punt at an ‘innocent’ explanation is that English bishops are peculiarly provincial and parochial and really find it difficult to see the issues from a global perspective. .....In other words, a problem is not ‘real’ unless it immediately and directly impacts the Church of England.

Perhaps the Bishop of Ely’s thinking also contains:

a) a dose of wishful thinking;

b) a very English effort at keeping up appearances - if people are talking to each other and everything appears ok from here then everything must be ok; no matter how many problems sit under the surface.

It seems to me to be an Alice in Wonderland style redefinition to suggest you have a successful moratorium [= delay or suspension of an action] when the only people who have agreed to the moratorium are people who were not previously doing the questionable action.

Grace & peace,
Terry

....

Those kids over at the Stand Firm in Faith blog don’t mince their words:

The reason Rowan Williams doesn’t make that argument any more is that it’s been revealed for the sophomoric nonsense it is. He’s trying to run a communion here, not a late-night dorm-room rap session over the bong.

Read the whole post, you’ll see that this judgement is justified.