Brian Mclaren addresses bishops and their spouses at the Lambeth Conference, Canterbury, 21 July 2008
(© Lambeth Conference )
CT: When you were invited to the Lambeth Conference, what made you say yes?
BM: I am a great admirer or Archbishop Rowan, so I would want to do anything I could to be of support to him and his supremely difficult but important work. As well, before becoming a pastor, the best church I was ever part of was an Episcopal congregation, and the best pastor I ever had was an Episcopal priest.
At my best moments of being a pastor, I hope I was reflecting something of that priest's inspiring gift of leadership. As a result of his influence, I strongly considered the possibility of entering the Episcopal ministry back in my 20's, and although I didn't end up taking that path, I've always had great love and respect for the Anglican tradition, going all the way back to the Celtic era.
So for all of these reasons, I was simultaneously honoured and humbled to be invited to speak at Lambeth, and deeply grateful to be able to accept the invitation.
CT: What perceptions did you have of the Anglican Communion before coming here? How have those perceptions been changed by what you have experienced at the Conference? Can you sense the divisions here?
BM: Of course, I had read many print and online articles about the kind of theological civil war ostensibly going on in the Anglican Communion. Having good friends on many "sides" of the controversy - and really, there are more than two sides - I knew before coming that the situation was complex with truly good-hearted and sincere people differing from each other on a number of difficult issues.
My dominant impression during my four brief days at Lambeth was not controversy, but rather the spirituality of the participants. The gathering was full of prayer, Bible study, worship, and fellowship. It wasn't simply a political "us versus them" gathering, as news reports often seem to imply. Instead, the people I talked to all radiated the love of Christ and the desire to move forward together, with Christian love covering differences.
I sensed among every participant I spoke with the desire for the main thing once again to be the main thing ... so the Anglican Communion can refocus on being and making disciples, in authentic community, for the good of God's world. Now I'm sure there are people on all extremes who wouldn't share this spirit, but apparently those people avoided me, because every single person I met shared this irenic spirit.
CT: The Anglican Communion is struggling to hold together Anglicans with many different theological positions. What's your approach in bringing polar opposite Christians to sit together at the same table?
BM: I think three things can help us a great deal. First, Scripture. The fact is, Scripture can be used as a weapon to exclude, wound, discredit, and vanquish opponents, but it also can be used as a kind of flashlight to guide us in dark times so we can learn to walk together through differences and divisions - of which there were many in New Testament times.
I think we're far wiser when we don't simply troll the Scriptures seeking to find verses that prove "them" wrong and "us" right - but rather when we ponder Scriptures that teach us how to treat one another when we differ - 1 Corinthians 13 being a prime text in this regard. (I always tell people, 1 Corinthians 13 was written for church controversies, not weddings!)
Second, virtue. If we don't know how to control our tongues, as the Apostle James frequently teaches, then there are going to be forest fires of conflict everywhere. If we don't learn how to listen wisely, again as James reminds us, we'll find ourselves slipping into unwise, angry, and divisive speech. If we don't have humility, we will constantly be either on attack or in defense mode, since egos are in play. If we don't learn how to forgive - and ask forgiveness - we will be at odds constantly, nursing grudges and causing new offenses.
