In my group today, two of the bishops from India suddenly started telling us about the Dalits, the untouchables, their situation under the law and what happens when they become Christian and we just basically cancelled the rest of what we were going to do because this is just so important and none of us had heard this before and we just went with that. So things like that will make their way through into the process. If we just had a parliamentary style process then some of those voices might never have come out.
There is of course a danger that the indaba groups just dwindle into being a sharing of stories which really could have been done over a drink rather than in an official part of the conference. But the Bible studies are creative and lots of people are saying they are working well and the indaba groups are not quite what we expected but there are a lot of positives coming out of them.
CT: There was one report that conservatives have tried to force a vote on homosexuality and Lambeth 1.10 in the indaba groups.
TW: I have heard one person saying that other people had been saying you must go into indaba groups and force a vote on Lambeth 1.10 - or maybe I read it on the web?! There may be some people who want to do that. But that would be the wrong way of going about the issue. It wouldn't be helpful.
CT: There were some concerns that the liberal agenda would dominate the conference and that Gene Robinson being on the fringes would change the atmosphere of the proceedings.
TW: You know, the funny thing is that everyone said that but I haven't seen Gene Robinson! I haven't seen these hoards of activists that we were promised. They may have been around because this is a big campus and I may have just missed them.
What we have got is a newspaper called the Lambeth Witness, which looks as if it is an official conference newspaper but is in actual fact the newspaper of a gay lobby group and I have heard other people say this is inappropriate. But it is a large campus and it is a free country and all sorts of things can happen.
One of the interesting things is that several parts of the Communion that have been genuinely wrestling with issues and are genuinely undecided seem to be making up their minds in ways that are entirely unpredictable. It's all to play for.
CT: Do you think the bishops that decided to stay away have made a mistake?
TW: I respect those who have stayed away because that is one way to read and respond to the events of the last five years.
The sorrow we all have is that they represent, one example Henry Orombi represents one of the finest Christian leaders in the world today and that is a voice that we badly miss at this conference. I have been working with some of the Tanzanian bishops and they are terrific and the Sudanese bishops are terrific and they have not compromised their integrity one inch and I just wish we could have had more from those parts of Africa that know what it is to be up against it culturally, in terms of poverty and Aids and so on. We need those voices to be here.
I understand why they didn't come and I respect them. I very much hope that what we do here will enable them to say right we are still onboard and we are going ahead together. That is my hope and my prayer. My hope is that the people who stayed away will see that what we do here at Lambeth creates a pathway into the future that they will be able to be part of. If we don't do that I think we will have failed.
