Service held for conference bishops

7:52pm Sunday 20th July 2008

Anglican bishops from around the world have gathered for the opening service of the Lambeth Conference at Canterbury Cathedral.

The service began with a formal procession of the 650 bishops who took almost half an hour to file into the church.

During the two-hour service, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, prayers were said in a number of languages including Japanese, Portuguese and Hindi while there were readings in Korean and French.

The congregation, which was also made up of the spouses of the bishops, was also entertained by Melanesian dancers in traditional costume.

The sermon was delivered by the Rt Rev Duleep de Chickera the Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka. In it he made reference to the fact that up to one quarter of the bishops invited have boycotted it over the consecration of the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire in the US who is openly gay.

Rt Rev Duleep de Chickera said: "We are a wounded community, some of us are not here and that is an indication that all is not well. Certainly the crisis is complex - it is not a crisis that can be resolved instantly. The journey ahead is a long and arduous one, a journey that will demonstrate our prayer, our faithfulness, our mutual trust in each other and of course our trust in God who realises it is possible."

During the two-week conference participants will discuss subjects including the church's mission and evangelisation, human sexuality, social justice and issues such as the environment and violence against women.

The bishops will break off deliberations on Thursday to join other faith leaders for a mass walk through central London to highlight the United Nations Millennium Development Goals on world poverty.

Those boycotting the conference include the leaders of the Anglican Provinces of Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and the Southern Cone, a group of countries in the southern tip of South America. Bishops from the traditionalist Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australia have also joined the boycott.

A number of bishops from the Church of England are also expected to stay away including the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester.

Around Herefordshire