Bishop Duleep de Chickera, of Colombo, Sri Lanka, said in his sermon that the church must be “an inclusive communion for anyone and everyone, regardless of color, gender, ability or sexual orientation,” but he also called for “discipline and self-scrutiny” since “Christ calls us to be hard on ourselves.”
With the late-morning sun streaming through three stories of clear and stained-glass windows, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams led the service at the enormous cathedral’s high altar, not far from a plaque listing his 103 predecessors, beginning with St. Augustine in 597.The bishops and their spouses are attending the Lambeth Conference, the decennial meeting that usually includes all the world’s Anglican bishops. The conference, which opened on July 16 with two-and-a-half days of retreat led by Williams, includes Bible study, discussion groups, plenary sessions and worship, and runs until August 3. This year, about 200 bishops are not attending, many of whom have made a point of boycotting the gathering due to differing opinions on homosexuality, the ordination of women and the authority of Scripture.
De Chickera noted that “we are a wounded community … the crisis is complex and it can’t be resolved instantly. The journey ahead is long and arduous … but we trust in God who makes reconciliation possible.”
He referred to the Gospel reading from chapter 13 of Matthew, in which Jesus tells the parable of a field that bore both weeds and wheat. The two grow together, but at harvest, the weeds are burned and the wheat—God’s community—is gathered into the barn. “If we uproot the unrighteous, then none of us will remain. We are all amidst the weeding and the weeds. I suggest we stay together and grow from our common heritage, regardless of our differences,” said De Chickera.
He also challenged the church to be a “prophetic voice … regardless of where we serve in the world,” speaking for “those who for cultural, economic, military reasons cannot speak for themselves, or at tremendous cost.” He mentioned crises in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq, and said the church must “call into accountability those who abuse power.”
The church, he said, “is one institution that does not live for itself” and he called upon the bishops to “hold onto these words” as the “crux of Anglican identity and spirituality.”
De Chickera concluded his sermon with a low, rhythmic Buddhist chant as the cathedral bells tolled.After the service, Bishop Neil Alexander of Atlanta said he was “particularly moved” by de Chickera’s sermon since it “lifted your soul,” however, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh said the inclusion of the chant was “very, very troubling” since it was an “invocation of something other than the God we know.”