Lambeth Lessons
rrHE small section of the Lambeth Conference I Report which dealt with family planning in- evitably received so much publicity that it could easily be imagined that the Anglican bishops dis- cussed nothing else during the five weeks. But refreshing as it is to have at last a clear and sensible, if controversial, statement on the full purpose of Christian marriage, it is by no means the only significant conclusion their Lordships reached. The entire report, including the encycli- cal letter, the 131 resolutions and the full reports of the five committees, is worthy of close study— and not only by members of the Anglican com- munion.
Although none of the resolutions passed is in any way binding on any province or Church of the communion, they will greatly influence the pattern of Anglicanism for the next decade. Thus it is encouraging to find there is every hope that if the negotiations for the formation of two united Churches, one in North India and Pakistan and the other in Ceylon, are successfully concluded, these Churches will be, from the outset, in full communion. Although there will certainly be a good deal of controversy, and some determined resistance to the acceptance of the schemes for reunion now under way—as well as to the idea that the Anglican Church may be in full com- munion with Churches which are also in com- munion with Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists—the bishops at Lambeth have made it clear that there can be no dra%\ ing back. It is to be hoped that the suggestion that future Lambeth Conferences should be attended by representative bishops of the new united Churches will be readily accepted.
The committee considering the conflicts within and between nations pulled no punches. Nothing could be more emphatic than the resolution con- demning discrimination of any kind on the grounds of race or colour and the demand that in all multi-racial societies members of all races should have a fair and just share in the govern- ment of their country, the control, development and rewards of its natural resources, and have the right to associate freely in worship, education, industry and education. The committee's report applies these principles particularly to the Federa- tion of Central Africa and warns the British Gov- ernment to do nothing to enhance the already powerful advantages the white settlers have over the African there. There will be some rumbles from the Federation, as there have already been from Australia, because of the passage which suggests that the Australian Government should modify its immigration policy and allow a con- trolled entry of members of any race or nation; but the influence of the non-white bishops on the Conference is clear, and the report is all the better for it.
The pressing problem of over-population in India, Ceylon and Japan was the main reason that the Conference got down to discussing the theo- logy of sexuality and the family. When it declares its belief that 'the responsibility for deciding upon the number and frequency of children has been laid by God upon the consciences of parents everywhere : that this planning, in such ways as are mutually acceptable to husband and wife in Christian conscience, is a right and important fac- tor in Christian family life. . . .' it has these coun- tries particularly in mind. But the acceptance of the rightness of family planning stems from the principle, which the Anglican Church has never declared before, that within the context of marriage and family life, the sexual act has a positive place as a means of expressing love apart from the procreation of children. It is a declara- tion long overdue.
All employers and trade union leaders could profitably study the passages on industrial pres- sures. The bishops point out that industry has a far wider responsibility to the community than mere productivity. The three-shift system, the use of migrant and contract labour, the employment of married women at lower wage rates and of youths in overpaid dead-end jobs can have a disastrous effect on family life. The committee report on the place of the Bible in the modern world also repays study; a small masterpiece of concise writing, it manages in a few pages to make relevant the whole drama of the Old Testament to the reconciling word of God. Few of our parish clergy can afford to ignore this section.
The Lambeth Conference Report will have no startling effect on the conflicts that unsettle the world; but for those who are prepared to look it points a way forward—and it is a way of hope.
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