The Episcopal Church provided the largest block of bishops at the Lambeth Conference, sending 104 of the 469 diocesan bishops present during the conference of Anglican bishops in Canterbury.
 
Details on who and how many of the Anglican Communion’s 880 active bishops attended the Lambeth Conference have not been made public. However, the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, reported the conference “involved the participation of some 680 bishops and 3,000 participants.”
 
There were 617 Anglican bishops registered for the conference, according to Lambeth Conference documentation obtained by The Living Church. Approximately 600 Anglican bishops were present for the group photo. Of the 617, 469 were diocesan bishops and the remaining 140 were suffragan, assisting and assistant bishops, as well as eight bishops without territorial sees.
 
The largest number of absentees was from Africa, with 209 of the continent’s 324 diocesan bishops missing. There were 115 diocesan and 12 suffragan bishops from African dioceses.
 
After The Episcopal Church’s 127 bishops, the second largest contingent came from the Church of England, which registered 113: 39 diocesan and 64 suffragan/assistant bishops.
 
Australia registered 39 bishops (20 diocesan and 19 suffragan); Canada 37 (29 diocesan and 8 suffragan); Southern Africa 27 (23 diocesan and 4 suffragan); North India 22; South India 21; Tanzania 20; the Sudan 17 and New Zealand 14.
 
The registration totals do not correspond exactly to the number of bishops actually present at Lambeth, however. At least 17 Anglican bishops who registered did not show, and a handful not registered did attend.
 
Bishops from every province but Uganda registered for the conference. Two Nigerian bishops registered. The Anglican Church of Nigeria had one registration: the Rt. Rev. Cyril Okorocha of Owerri, who left shortly after his arrival. The second Nigerian bishop at Lambeth was a Roman Catholic archbishop, part of the seven-man team from the Vatican.
 
The Anglican Communion comprises 729 dioceses, missionary districts, and ecclesial entities divided into 38 provinces and six extra-provincial jurisdictions. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams invited all sitting diocesan and suffragan bishops. Invitations were extended to all those exercising an “episcopal pastoral ministry” a conference spokesman said. Approximately 75 ecumenical guests attended Lambeth, acting as full participants in the small group sessions and plenary sessions.
 
Budget Shortfall
The effect the bishops’ boycott played in the estimated $1.8 to $3.7 million conference shortfall is unclear.  Canon Kearon said, “the projection of a deficit in the immediate period following the Conference was always recognized,” and that “the shortfall in funding is unclear as bills come in to be settled, but it is likely to be approaching £1 million.”
 
Conference spokesman Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Australia told the media that a final accounting would not be available until after the conference closed its books in mid-August, but a member of the conference organizing team told TLC the deficit could rise to $3.7 million. In contrast, the 1998 conference ended with a budget surplus of more than $1.8 million.
 
“The shortfall is being addressed as agreed by the continuing fund raising program,” Canon Kearon said, and on Aug. 11 the governors of the Church Commissioners of the Church of England agreed to extend an interest free loan of $1.1 million to the Lambeth Conference Corporation.
 
According to an internal conference document distributed to the bishops who had registered, the budget for the Lambeth Conference was $8.2 million, and the Lambeth Spouses’ Conference was $2.2 million, excluding the costs of travel to the conference.
 
The conference shortfall will not affect finances for the forthcoming primates’ meeting, Archbishop Williams said. Funding for primates’ meetings is an expense item in the Anglican Consultative Council budget. However, the Lambeth Conference is a separate not-for-profit corporation whose finances are separate from the ACC budget.
 
(The Rev.) George Conger and Steve Waring
 
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