It seems like an age since the IC office and staff upped-sticks for two weeks and migrated south to Canterbury. The Lambeth Conference promised to be an opportunity for engagement both with the bishops of the Anglican Communion, and with other inclusive groups from around the globe, and in many ways we seem to have been successful.

Our home for the duration of the Conference was St Stephen's Church centre, half a mile or so down the hill from the University of Kent campus where the bishops were meeting. An assortment of folk from around the globe gathered with a strong sense of common purpose, and a deeply felt understanding of community arose amongst us - both as a transient gathering at Canterbury, and as component parts of the worldwide Communion. Meeting together daily for Morning and Evening Prayer, Bible study, and discussion in line with the official Conference themes, many of the group (which at times numbered around 40!) formed deep bonds of affection between them, in spite of cultural differences and varying approaches to interacting with the bishops.

Up on campus, a steadily-evolving team of volunteers looked after the IC stall in the Marketplace, expertly co-ordinated by Clare Herbert! As bishops passed through browsing everything from Mitres to Holy Socks and Bibles to KitKats, our wonderfully enthusiastic and committed workers engaged in conversation with both liberals and conservatives and a good number of people who were not familiar with the work of IC. The stall gave us an important chance to promote our work around the communion, to acknowledge our partnership organisations, and to plug our Conference Fringe events!

After many months of preparation, some 150 bishops, clergy, and volunteers from around the Communion gathered on July 26, at the mid-point of the Conference, for the Inclusive Church Network Eucharist. Archbishop Carlos, one of our patrons, celebrated the liturgy and Canon Lucy Winkett preached a moving and powerful sermon. Following an intense opening week, we all were glad to have space to reaffirm our faith and our reasons for being present, to give thanks for God's blessings upon our work, and to lay our concerns for the week ahead at his feet. I remember looking up from the keyboard as the congregation sang the chant "Veni, sancte spiritus”, seeing much raw emotion, and feeling the intensity of God's presence in that place.

Following the Eucharist, Bishop Idris, the other patron of IC, launched a new book edited by Adrian Alker (Together in Hope published by the Progressive Christianity Network), and we enjoyed some social time together, giving a little respite from the intensity of the daily grind, and much needed rest before a second more intense week with human sexuality and the Anglican Covenant on the agenda for bishops.

In spite of much anxiety amongst bishops and the massed forces at St Stephen's, disciplined listening and deepening love for one another kept the bishops around the table during the second full week in Canterbury. Archbishop Rowan's carefully planned schedule, which placed prayer and Bible study at the heart of the Conference, gave space for the grace of the Spirit, to the effect that though few changed their mind over essential issues, almost all now have a richer understanding of the sources of difference amongst Anglicans, and a greater sense of how valuable a gift our Communion is to us and to the world.

The second IC event, Inclusive Imperative: Anglican Welcome, brought together Richard Burridge (Dean of King's College, London) and Nomfundo Walaza (CE of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre), with Brian Thorne (The Norwich Centre) in the chair, for an intense and imaginative discussion of inclusive ethics. At the end of a long day, nearing the end of a long week, we were delighted and heartened by a turn-out over 80 (one of the largest fringe events at the Conference) with a good number of bishops, spouses, and press. There is a real desire for genuine theological discussion about the inclusivity issues in the Communion, and it is great that IC can have a presence at the centre of that!

The Lambeth Conference concluded on the evening of Sunday, August 3, with a Eucharist in Canterbury Cathedral according to the New Zealand Prayer Book, celebrated by Archbishop Ellison Pogo. It was a privilege and a pleasure to attend such a special occasion. The most moving aspect, for me, was the receiving of the names of the seven Melanesian Martyrs of 2003 by Archbishop Rowan. As the Melanesian brothers and sisters sang the beautiful litany of the Melanesian saints and martyrs, the names were processed to the Chapel of the Saints and Martyrs of Our Time, as the Archbishop read the dedicatory prayers. In a Communion which is often said to lack a common identity, and a Church with no formal process of canonisation, this conclusion to the Conference bore powerful testimony to the witness of so many faithful Christians in the Anglican Communion, and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ which calls us into unity and peace.

Gregory Tucker