The reports that have been issued over the years have seldom had any earthshaking impact but they have supplied every decade current models of Anglican theological reflection so that Anglicans and Christians of other traditions can get a handle on our style of Christian witness. I was present not only as support for Bishop Tom Shaw SSJE, as the head of his monastic household, but as a member of the team of chaplains who were available to the conference pastorally and to help practically with the liturgies. In the main conference halls two huge symbols hung on the back wall. A very brave claim as a motto for a Church which I will take as the main theme for this series of personal reflections. This deep principle of St John's Gospel is a very radical one.
Truth is active, it sets free.
The converse is true. Where truth has been evaded, the effect is constriction, shutting up. If theology does not emancipate it is not theology. Well, most people would tell you that it was chiefly effective in the contexts of the daily bible studies in which each small group embodied in microcosm the cultural and racial diversities of our world-wide communion. Whether in the spouses' program, or among the bishops or in the chaplaincy bible study, there was the liberating effect of encountering the multiple perspectives and experiences of others.