The following two articles were written by Sonya Sutton and Sharon Rabb, respectively, as they share their perspective with FOCUS (Families of Clergy United in Support).

It was a privilege to be present at the first half of the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Communion’s gathering of bishops, which occurs every ten years.  Nearly 700 bishops and their spouses are being housed and fed at Kent University just outside of Canterbury in England, and it is an amazing gathering of people from all over the world, many in colorful national dress and, of course, in various shades of purple.  Several things became clear to me in my time there.  Though the Anglican Communion may well be the last gasp of the British Empire, its value in bringing people of faith together from around the world is more important than I had realized.  My respect for the Archbishop has increased as I saw more clearly the need for him to balance the power struggles between bishops and the pressures on him to do so.  And I am far more fortunate to be an American than I had realized. I talked to wives of bishops from many countries, and they face hardships and expectations that I know I could not deal with.  There are women who came to this conference hoping to learn how to sew their husband’s vestments so that he would have some.  I spoke to one woman from the Sudan who said the best thing about being married to a bishop is that she is now in a monogamous marriage.  There were woman in various discussion groups I met with who had no choice but to go with their husbands for weeks and months at a time to visitations in remote rural village churches, leaving young children behind with other family members. 

And what of the one issue on everyone’s minds?  Namely, how will American bishops react to the continuing, vocal resistance by some to full inclusion of gay/lesbian clergy and, in particular, to the consecration of New Hampshire’s bishop, Gene Robinson? It was the elephant in the room for the first few polite days of the conference, but things were beginning to heat up as I left and angry words were being exchanged. The sermon at Canterbury Cathedral last Sunday by the Bishop of Sri Lanka made it very clear that the Anglican Communion must find a way to resolve this conflict in favor of equal rights for all, and we know that he was speaking so bluntly with the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The American bishops that I heard discussing this topic will not back down from their full support of Gene Robinson.

But as a spouse, I was very much on the periphery of any substantive discussions.  My experience of Lambeth was far more pleasant.  Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral, outings to Sissinghurst and Whitestable on the North Sea, tea at several parish churches hosted by ladies surely straight from a Masterpiece Theater set, meeting the queen, lunch at Lambeth Palace, a side trip to see friends in St. Alban’s and to attend a concert at the Abbey there.   I am grateful for these experiences, grateful that I could witness the breadth of the Anglican Communion, and most grateful of all that I have my own corner of the Communion right here.

Sonya Sutton

This will be my only opportunity to participate in Lambeth, as John will most assuredly be retired by 2018.  Like Sonya, I am in awe of the breadth and influence of the Anglican Communion, and humbled by the challenges faced by so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ, especially in countries where Christians are a persecuted minority.

Sonya and I played tag team at Lambeth with my arrival on July 23 and her departure on July 25. Thursday, July 24 was a memorable day.  A Walk of Witness with 800 bishops, spouses and invited ecumenical guests took us through Whitehall, past Parliament, and over Lambeth Bridge to Lambeth Palace to publicize the Millenium Development Goals to halve poverty by 2012.  Once at the palace, we heard Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s words of support.  It was a powerful way for me to begin my Lambeth experience.

The two morning sessions, the Spouse Plenary Sessions and Spouse Bible Studies, were the highlights of my day.  Plenary Sessions began after breakfast.  Each day presented an issue of major concern for the world community.  We had speakers who talked about climate change, violence and peacekeeping, treatment of women, human trafficking, and world health concerns among others. We sat at round tables and after the presentations, we shared our experiences with others at the table.  I usually tried not to sit with U.S. spouses whom I know well, but felt it was important to hear the variety of worldwide perspectives.

I hope you are not too shocked to hear that I am not normally a big fan of Bible study groups. Lambeth presented a new opportunity for me, and it was astounding! My Bible study group was composed of two women from Burundi, one each from Sierra Leone, Congo, New Zealand, and one other from the U.S., Ruth Councell, the wife of the Bishop of New Jersey.  It was led by Margaret Sentamu, wife of the Archbishop of York and a native of Uganda.  We delved into the Gospel of John—a challenge indeed for such a diverse group.  The Bible Study is where the strongest bonds are formed.  We were able to circumnavigate our differences and listen to one another without bias.  Since coming back to Maryland, I have had a number of email exchanges with members of the group.

As the days passed, tension over differences faded to be replaced by a realization that the cares and concerns of the world are too great to be overshadowed by spite.  In the end, it is the relationships with each other and the understanding that there is important work that we must accomplish together that I am sure will hold the communion together.  There was loud applause in a joint session of bishops and spouses when The Rt. Rev. Naresh Ambala, Bishop of Eastern Himalaya, Church of North India, stood to say. “When are we going to stop focusing on the sins of homosexuals and start focusing on the sins of heterosexuals?”  He was speaking of the tremendous amount of work that needs to be done to solve the crises of violence and suffering that reach into all corners of the world and needs our focused attention.

I am appreciative of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose thoughtful leadership guided us to focus on building relationships among an incredibly diverse body of faithful Christians.

Sharon Rabb