In preparation of the Lambeth Conference to be held between 22 July and 2 August 2020, a once-a-decade event gathering bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury for prayer, study and dialogue on Church and world issues, Westminster Abbey has organized an Ecclesiology Seminar on 17 February 2020 entitled: “Harvesting the fruits of bilateral dialogue”.

In partnership with the Anglican Communion Office, the Abbey is hosting a series of day events between November 2019 and April 2020. The international panels examine a range of themes from the fundamentals of Anglicanism to conflict and reconciliation. Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey, Dr Jamie Hawkey, said, “The seminars will reflect on a specific theme related to Anglican identity, and the nature and mission of the Anglican Communion in the twenty-first century. Each day will include a number of papers and discussion, and conclude with insight from a distinguished ecumenical guest.”

The Ecclesiology Seminar entitled: “Harvesting the fruits of bilateral dialogue” was the third event of that series and focused on the document “The Church of the Triune God” of the International Commission for the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue, the Agreed Statement “Walking Together on the Way” of the Third Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission, the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” of the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church, and the convergence document “The Church: Towards a Common Vision” of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.

Speakers included Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium (Ecumenical Patriarchate, co-Chair of the International Commission for the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue), The Rev Dr Alison Joyce (Church of England), The Rev Dr Peter Sedgwick (Church of Wales), Archbishop Bernard Longley (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham and co-Chair of Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission), The Very Rev Dr Sarah Rowland Jones (Church of Wales), The Rev Professor John Gibaut (Anglican Church of Canada), The Rev Professor Paul Avis (Church of England) and Archbishop Job of Telmessos (Permanent Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the WCC) as the ecumenical guest of the day.