Calling the Church to prioritise Christian Unity will be the focus of an online discussion facilitated by the Anglican Communion Office on January 29 and 30. Exploring the Lambeth Call on Christian Unity and themes of ecumenism, the webinars follow the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 January).
The webinars will feature a conversation about the ecumenical formation of both children and young adults, with special reference to The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (a Montessori method of Christian education) and the Community of St Anselm (a one-year experience of monastic life for people aged 20-35 at Lambeth Palace).
There will also be a conversation with a pair of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops recently commissioned by Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury to walk together in friendship and common mission. The bishops are part of IARCCUM, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission.
The webinars will also provide an opportunity to hear more about The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, recently published by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO). The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals are the result of a long-term piece of work, commissioned at the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-18) in 2023. They carry forward appeals made in the Lambeth Call on Anglican Identity “to review the Instruments of Communion,” and those in the Lambeth Call on Christian Unity to “seek the full organic unity of the Church.”
Special guests on the webinars include The Rt Revd Dr Graham Tomlin (chair of IASCUFO and director of the Centre for Cultural Witness in England); The Most Revd Samuel Peni (Archbishop of Yambio in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan); The Rt Revd Alex Sakor (Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yei in South Sudan); Dr Katherine Sonderegger (Professor of Systematic Theology, Virginia Theological Seminary, and a member of The Episcopal Church); The Most Revd Samy Shehata (Archbishop of the Province of Alexandria, in Egypt); Tracy De Beer (Good Shepherd Catechesis in the Archdiocese of Cape Town); Caroline Bauerschmidt (Diocese of Tennessee in The Episcopal Church); and Angie Anjum (member of the Community of St Anselm, from Pakistan).
Speaking of the importance of the Lambeth Call on Christian Unity, and the work of ecumenism, Canon Dr Christopher Wells, Director of Unity, Faith and Order at the Anglican Communion Office, said: “The call to visible Christian unity has been affirmed by every Lambeth Conference since 1867, and has served as something of a north star for Anglican identity and mission ever since. There is no Anglican Communion apart from our commitment to walking with our brothers and sisters in the Lord from all churches of the Church and heeding his call to unity so that the world may believe (John 17:21). These webinars will provide an inspiring window onto the latest steps that Anglicans are taking to respond to God’s call to unity, and some of the surprising signs of hope that have emerged from inter-Anglican study and prayer.”
The Lambeth Call on Christian Unity invites the Church to strengthen its common life and witness across the diverse expressions of Anglicanism, other denominations and Christian traditions. A section of the Call reads: “We, the bishops of the Anglican Communion, now reaffirm our commitment to seeking the unity of Christ’s body, the Church. In our study of the First Epistle of Peter, we have been reminded that the Church is God’s creation, established on the one foundation stone, which is Jesus Christ. In God’s vocation, the Church is one ‘chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,’ called to ‘declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light’ (1 Peter 2:9).”
The Christian Unity webinars will take place on Wednesday 29 January 1800-1900 GMT and Thursday 30 January 1000-1100 GMT.
Click here to register.