The Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams said the Conference, which meets every ten years, would take place at the University of Kent in Canterbury from 16 July to 3 August 2008.
The Archbishop of Canterbury said the Conference would be an opportunity for “individual Christian pastors to meet Jesus afresh, for our Church to be renewed in mission, for the world to hear good news”.
He stressed in the letter that a key aspect of the Conference would be the enabling for ministry: “The main focus I long to see at this Conference is the better equipping of bishops to fulfil their task as agents and enablers of mission, as co-workers with God’s mission in Jesus Christ.”
A Design Group appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and comprised of one Archbishop, five bishops, one lay-woman and one priest from different churches throughout the Anglican Communion, met earlier in the month in London to continue planning for the Conference.
The Most Rev. Ellison Pogo, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, who chaired the Group, said: “We are working very hard to orient the Conference around God's mission of transformation and reconciliation, seeing the bishops themselves as primary resources in this task.
“Through experiences provided in small bible study and expanded conversation groups, we expect that the bishops will encounter God's word anew, be engaged with one another at a very deep level, and then empowered in their vocation as leaders in God's mission.”
He added: “In keeping with Archbishop Rowan's vision, the Conference process will be relational not confrontation in its approach with a minimum of resolutions."
Sue Parks, the Lambeth Conference Manager, expressed her own enthusiasm for the planning process. She said, "We are very excited by the planning and work of the Design Group so far.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury's desire for this next Lambeth Conference to be more responsive to the needs of the world for which Christ died and rose is inspiring. The Conference will be different and fresh as it serves this vision."
Maria Mackay
Christian Today Correspondent