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UD Academic appointed a Convenor to pre-Lambeth seminar

Reverend Dr Robyn Whitaker, New Testament Scholar at Pilgrim Theological College, is currently overseas in the UK at Lambeth Palace, appointed as a Convenor by the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, to be part of the St Augustine’s Seminar.

Robyn is part of a group of 35 leading New Testament scholars from different denominations around the world who are gathered, this November, for the Seminar to lay the biblical foundations for the next Lambeth Conference.

The Lambeth Conference is a hugely significant event in the life of the Anglican Church. It brings together all active bishops and their spouses from across the worldwide Anglican Communion – that’s more than 165 countries. The aim is to seek God’s direction for the future of the Anglican/Episcopalian Church for the decades ahead. Around 800 bishops from around the Anglican Communion will gather at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, in the summer of 2020 for the once in a decade Lambeth Conference. As part of their time together, the bishops will engage in Bible study around the first epistle of Peter (1 Peter) and the St Augustine Seminar will begin the work of preparing materials for the studies.

Some 35 New Testament scholars from Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Egypt, India, Ireland, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK, and the US are taking part, now, in the St Augustine’s Seminar. The participants come from different churches of the Anglican Communion and a wide spread of other denominations, including Methodist, Presbyterian, Uniting Churches of Australia, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, and Armenian Orthodox Churches.

The Seminar is convened by Professor Jennifer Strawbridge, Associate Professor in New Testament Studies at Mansfield College in the University of Oxford. The group will consider the text from 1 Peter and help to draw up critical thinking to help shape the Bible studies and other aspects of the Lambeth Conference. After the initial meeting in November, a smaller group, including Robyn, will convene at Lambeth Palace again in May 2019 to draw together resources.

Read the full Anglican Communion Press Release

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