LAMBETH 1998: Diary from the Last True Lambeth Conference
by Stephen Noll:
Prefatory Note.
This is the 24th anniversary of the historic 1998 Lambeth Conference, which is remembered for its Resolution I.10 on Human Sexuality. I was present there, representing the American Anglican Council (AAC). In this capacity I filed a three-week “Diary” of the Conference. I am posting this diary without revision, except for the final week.
Lambeth 1998 was the last Conference convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury to attempt to resolve anything of substance. The 2008 Lambeth Conference left behind a undigested glob of “indaba.” The 2022 Conference promises much of the same with a series of indistinct trumpet “calls.” It may be said that the Conference is already all over but the photo op, which no doubt is exactly what the planners intend.
The mantle of serious Anglican discourse has now passed to the Global Anglican Future Conferences, especially those in 2008 and 2018. I have written expositions of conference statements in my book The Gospel of God and the Church of God: Global Anglican Essays (Anglican House, 2020).