The first Inclusive Church conference opened at the Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire today (Thursday) with an attack on the damage done by the growing tendency to exclude, within the Anglican church.
The main address was given by Dr Jenny Plane Te Paa, a member of the 2003 Lambeth Commission.
In a strong speech, Te Paa told the conference how pervasive “the reach of enmity” had become within Anglicanism. But referring to the “grace filled lives of the faithful Christians of our churches”, she urged the conference “not to notice the bad behaviour of the few, but the good behaviour of the many.”
Calling to mind the great humanitarian needs of the world, Te Paa lamented the obsession with drawing “lines that exclude”, which she said distracted from the suffering of others.
Anglicans should not “fret and fight” while people are literally dying, she said.
Te Paa is a Principal of the College of St John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand, was a member of the 2003 Lambeth Commission, and assisted in the St Augustine’s Seminar responsible for planning the detailed content for the forthcoming Lambeth Conference 2008.
The Revd Canon Giles Goddard, chair of Inclusive Church, said, “We are not a pressure group of the like-minded.” He added, “We are ordinary Anglicans who love our church, and we are deeply concerned by the way in which the effort to exclude is overtaking the calling to live the Gospel.”
The conference of 180 people is taking place at a time when many in the Church and outside it are concerned that the generous tolerance which has characterized Anglicanism is under serious threat from those who wish to divide the church, say the organisers Inclusive Church.
The conference includes participants from all parts of Great Britain and throughout the Anglican Communion.