Until I started watching the Lambeth Conference a fortnight ago, I hadn’t realised how small my world had become! I was shocked by that unexpected revelation but it was a necessary welcome.
I just couldn’t get my head round to the fact that there was an Anglican church in almost all the corners of this world and that we follow the same liturgy. The bishops who were present at the conference came in all colours, shapes and sizes and spoke different languages reminding me how big the world is! One of the disadvantages of sitting in an old vicarage in rural England is that it is so easy to forget that there is a BIG world out there.
Anyway, it was so wonderful to see the different designs in their violet clerical shirts and to see their wide smiles – hiding the fact some came from very difficult political situations in their own countries. At least one bishop, his wife and baby daughter were living in a refugee camp just for their own safety.
I didn’t think that the Lambeth conference was very well organised. However, I am very grateful that I got to see and sometimes hear from these bishops.
Now I just need to make sure that I do everything in my power to not shrink my world any further!!!!
Secret Diary Of A Church of England Vicar's Wife 