Conger

Speaking to the some 600 bishops and their spouses at the opening session on the evening of July 16, Dr Williams outlined his vision for the conference around the theme of “building relationships.”

Forming personal relations among the college of the Anglican Communion’s bishops by itself will not settle the disputes of doctrine and discipline, he acknowledged, but “it is certain that without the building of relationships the challenges will never be resolved,” he said according to bishops present at the opening session.

Bishops began arriving on Wednesday on the campus of the University of Kent situated on a hill to the south of Canterbury, with lines snaking across the campus as the bishops registered for the conference and were assigned dormitory rooms. A corps of yellow-sashed volunteers ranging in age from university students to elderly clergy escorted the new arrivals to their assigned rooms, while also enthusiastically patrolling the boundaries of the plenary areas — keeping the press and on-lookers on the far side of a 10-foot high chain link fence.

Participants in the Conference have been divided into castes denoted by the color of the lanyard holding their name tag, with the freedom to roam determined by one’s colour. Bishops and their spouses wear purple, volunteers yellow, exhibitors at the Marketplace — the venue for shops and special interest groups wear white, the press blue and conference staff red.

“Red is home, blue away” the bishops were told in the closed evening session that outlined the mechanics of the conference in between bouts of hymn singing, with the bishops cautioned to be careful in what they say to “outsiders.”