Archbishop - Christian-Muslim engagement 'for the sake of peace in our common home'
Tuesday 3rd June 2008
The Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday convened an ecumenical gathering to discuss ways in which Christian-Muslim engagement might be strengthened and deepened.
The Archbishop with seminar participants at Church House.
It brought together more than 40 participants from a broad range of geographical, cultural and denominational settings.
In his welcome to the participants the Archbishop expressed his gratitude that so many had taken the "opportunity for church leaders and scholars representing something of the geographical and confessional diversity of Christianity to discuss together the current experience of dialogue with Muslims - situating the significance of the open letter A Common Word within it, and determining what degree of consensus might be possible as we look forward."
During the discussions church representatives from around the globe, including Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, Malaysia – alongside those from Western countries where Christianity is the majority religion - shared their experience of engagement.
Dr Williams said, "It has been tremendously important to me personally ... that we have heard such a range of perspectives. As well as deepening our shared understanding of the challenge before us it has, I think, renewed for us all the significance of the church's work in this area of cooperation with other faiths for the sake of peace in our common home."
Delegates at the Consultation were heartened by the great variety of initiatives, some by Muslims and some by Christians, that were taking place at many different levels - many with a well-established track record. A great emphasis was placed on the need to ensure that the results of these encounters were more widely disseminated and influenced the education and formation of young people. The Archbishop agreed to take forward further work, particularly in response to A Common Word.
The Consultation began with a meeting of the consultant scholars on 1 June and continued, with church representatives and under the chairmanship of the Archbishop, for a full day on 2 June. The Consultation took place at Church House, Westminster and concluded with the participants being welcomed at Evensong in Westminster Abbey followed by a reception and dinner at Lambeth Palace.
The Consultation was resourced by a group of more than 20 scholars from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, UK and USA. The church representatives represented the full denominational spread of Christianity with the majority of the leaders addressed in A Common Word sending representatives and including a large number representing churches in countries where Christians are in a minority.
CHURCH REPRESENTATIVES from
Holy See
Ecumenical Patriarchate
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch & All the East
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Patriarchate of Moscow & All Russia
Patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Church of Greece
Church of Cyprus
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
Great House of Cilicia
Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East
Indian Orthodox Church
Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East
Church of England
Anglican Province of South East Asia
Old Catholic Union of Utrecht
Lutheran World Federation
Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
World Evangelical Alliance
Baptist World Alliance
World Council of Churches
Middle East Council of Churches
Conference of European Churches
Christian Alliance of Nigeria
CONSULTANT SCHOLARS from
Anglican Communion Office
Africa
PROCMURA
Christian Alliance of Nigeria
America
Georgetown University
Princeton Theological Seminary
Yale University
Asia
Christian Study Centre, Pakistan
Patriarchate of Antioch & All the East
Trinity Theological College, Singapore
Europe
Birmingham University
Cambridge University
Church of England Dioceses of Durham, Rochester & Southwark
Church of Norway & Oslo University
Edinburgh University
Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland
Heythrop College, London
Manchester University
Nottingham University
Oxford Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies
Westminster Abbey