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Dates confirmed for 2020 Lambeth Conference gathering of Anglican bishops
Lambeth Palace News
November 27, 2018
The next Lambeth Conference -- the once-a-decade gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world -- will take place in Canterbury, Kent, from Thursday 23 July until Sunday 2 August 2020, it was confirmed today. Every active bishop within the Anglican Communion's 40 provinces is being sent an invitation to attend the event, along with their spouse. In total, more than 800 bishops and their spouses will be invited. A number of Christian leaders from other denominations and church families will also be invited. The list of ecumenical guests is still being finalised.
The invitations are being sent by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as Primus inter pares of the Anglican Communion's Primates -- the leaders of the 40 interdependent autonomous churches that make up the Anglican Communion. The programme for the meeting is being set by an internationally-convened Design Group, chaired by the Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba.
Items for discussion are also being suggested by the Anglican Communion primates in a series of regional meetings. Two have already taken place this year, in Oceania and Africa. The Americas regional Primates' Meeting is taking place this week in Canada. Next year, other events will be held for primates in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and South East Asia.
In a video message for the Lambeth Conference website, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spoke about the disagreements within the Anglican Communion and its provinces, saying: "The differences we have are differences within the family. . . They are about how we live as a holy people; how we live in a way that shows we are God's people.
"We do have very important differences, but we must show that we respect each other as sisters and brothers in Christ, and that we learn to disagree in a way that demonstrates that we love and value each other. . .
