In an interview with the Tucson-based Arizona Daily Star, Bishop Kirk Smith of Arizona calls the exclusion of Bishop Gene Smith from Lambeth “insulting” to the Episcopal Church:
“I think it’s a very insulting thing to the American church that a duly elected bishop is told he’s not allowed to come,” said Smith, who will be attending his first Lambeth Conference.
“The vast majority of my colleagues feel quite upset. But Gene himself told us, ‘You need to go and make your case.’ He has been gracious and complied with the archbishop of Canterbury. I hope I will be able to convince some of the bishops I meet with to meet Gene, so that he’s not just a name.”
Bishop Smith also spoke more broadly about the current controversy in the Anglican Communion about issues of sexuality and the future of the Communion:
“We have spent far too long arguing about these things, and we really need to get on with the mission of the church,” Smith said. “One of my hopes for the Anglican bishops is that we can recommit ourselves to the larger mission, agree to disagree and get on with it.”
Though he predicts a faction of the communion probably will leave, Smith is upbeat about the church’s future.
“This group that met in Jerusalem, they don’t want to be a part of it anymore. They are a minority — I think maybe five of 38 provinces. (But) some of those provinces, like Nigeria, are big,” he said.
“We don’t like to see anyone feel they have to leave for any reason. But will it mean end of church? Absolutely not. . . . I think the Anglican Communion will survive.”
Read it all here.