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Of the 880 Anglican bishops, between 200 and 250 will stay away. The total number of no-shows will not be known until registration closes on July 20. However the boycott by evangelicals means that bishops from the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church of the United States comprise 1 in 5 of the bishops attending the conference; worldwide, Americans account for only 1 in 40 Anglicans.

In addition to the absence of many of their brethren, evangelicals are not optimistic about the conference's prospects for resolving the dispute, as the agenda has been designed to avoid addressing the contentious issues facing the church. This has left those conservative Anglicans at Lambeth not sanguine about the conference's prospects.

On its opening night, Archbishop Williams said the 14th Lambeth Conference would not settle the disputes dividing the Anglican Communion, but an effort must be made to keep the conversation going to preserve the integrity of the church.

He hoped the conference would eschew a political solution to the theological divisions within the church and focus on "building relationships." While this would not settle the disputes of doctrine and discipline, "it is certain that without the building of relationships the challenges will never be resolved," Archbishop Williams said, according to bishops present at the opening session.

"I don't have great expectations" for Lambeth, Bishop Duncan of Pittsburgh said. It was important to give voice to the views of evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics marginalized by the dominant liberal wing of the Episcopal Church, and he welcomed the opportunity for "strengthening the bonds of relationship" with bishops from the developing world. However, he was "deeply saddened" that the gap between left and right now seemed unbridgeable.

The pleas for dialogue at this stage rang false, Bishop Venables said. "Although much has been said about talking, it seems to me that no one is listening," he said. "I'm on the telephone," but "no one has called me to say, 'Let's talk this over.'"

While Archbishop Williams has been able to salvage past pan-Anglican gatherings from collapse, the mechanics of the 2008 Lambeth Conference differ from past gatherings of the archbishops and the triennial meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, smaller Primates Meetings and Anglican Consultative Council gatherings. In past international gatherings, Williams has been able to avert a crackup by resorting to calls for forbearance to conservative leaders and personal pleas to honor the integrity of the communion. The absence of this bloc of bishops will change the focus of Williams's diplomatic efforts, forcing him to turn his attention to the Episcopal Church and seek its pledge of good behavior.

However, many of the American bishops are not seeking preservation of the status quo, but are lobbying for approval to perform gay marriages and elect more gay bishops. Added to his difficulties is his political defeat at this month's meeting of the Church of England's General Synod — the church's assembly — where his pleas to provide legal safeguards for opponents of women bishops was rejected.

The impending implosion of the Anglican Communion was a tragedy where everyone would come away the loser, Bishop Venables said. "But at the end of the day, Jesus is the Lord of the church and we are to follow him," by being faithful to God first and last.

The conference continues through August 4.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A press release from GAFCON primates is available on CT Liveblog.

Our previous coverage of the division in the Anglican Communion is in our full-coverage section and in Liveblog.

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July (Web-Only) 2008, Vol. 52