An unconfirmed leak published today on the internet suggests that when invitations go out later this year for the 2008 Lambeth Conference, all Bishops in the Anglican Communion will be invited.
Ruth Gledhill, who writes “Articles of Faith” for Times OnLine wrote “a well-informed source who indicated to me a few weeks back that everyone, including Gene Robinson and those who consecrated him, was to be invited. ”
The Lambeth Conference Official Website says on its FAQ page only that invitations will be mailed later in 2007, and “Those attending the Lambeth Conference are bishops and archbishops of the Anglican Communion, and those in communion with the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury invites the participants to the conference.” No other criteria is spelled out.
Much of Gledhill’s blog is devoted to strange speculations about another possible invitation, and that is whether or not Mark Andrew, Bishop Gene Robinson’s partner, would be invited as well. How this speculation is written, and the pictures chosen to accompany the post, seem to be intended to stir up outrage from those quarters who would wish for Bishop Robinson, if not the rest of the Episcopal Church, to be excluded from the conference.
At the same time, if Ms. Gledhill’s “deep purple” (as she calls it) source is correct, this would prove to be a significant development.