The Church of England General Synod opened in central London yesterday with a wide-ranging address from the Archbishop of Canterbury on his recent Sharia law comments, the forthcoming Lambeth Conference and the situation in Zimbabwe.
In a clear display of support for their leader, Synod members broke into rapturous applause when Dr Rowan Williams entered the assembly hall to open three and a half days of debate and Church legislating.
Dr Williams began his address by apologising for any distress that might have been caused by "unclarity" or a "misleading choice of words" in a lecture he gave at the Royal Courts of Justice on religious rights and the accommodation of aspects of Sharia law in the British legal system last Thursday.
He stopped short of retracting his comments, however.
"I believe quite strongly that it is not inappropriate for a pastor of the Church of England to address issues around the perceived concerns of other religious communities and to try and bring them into better public focus," he told Synod - although the Archbishop later conceded that his efforts in this instance had been "clumsily deployed".
The Archbishop recommended that Christians and people of other faiths come together to reflect further on issues of faith and law before turning to the original agenda for his Synod address, the Lambeth Conference taking place in July and the situation in Zimbabwe.
Following the public launch of the Lambeth Conference programme last month, the Archbishop said that the conference aimed "both to address the major issues and to refresh and inspire those who will attend".
"The twofold focus is equipping bishops for leadership and strengthening the identity and confidence of the communion," he told Synod.
The 10-yearly conference of senior Anglican clergy will take place this July amid serious divisions over homosexuality.
He continued, "The primary need will be to get to know each other sufficiently well to confront the divisive matters that are around, and so there will be a larger number of slightly smaller groups."
One of the key debates this week will take place on the draft Anglican Covenant, issued a few weeks ago by the Anglican Covenant Design Group after a meeting in London.
The document attempts to uphold the autonomy of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion whilst at the same time asking for their voluntary commitment to a process of joined-up deliberation whenever disputes occur over contentious issues.
A number of conservative clergy have already announced that they will not be attending the Lambeth Conference but instead be heading to Jerusalem for their own gathering to hash out a plan for the future of the Anglican Communion.
