Bishop's View

  The first Lambeth Conference was convened in 1867 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Thomas Longley over an “internal problem” in the fledgling Anglican Church of South Africa.  The Bishop of Cape Town had deposed Bishop John William Colenso for his writings that allegedly “contravened and subverted the Catholic Faith.”  Colenso appealed to the English courts, and was reinstated.  There were then two Bishops claiming jurisdiction in the same diocese, and Archbishop Longley became convinced the matter had grave implications for the entire Communion.  A significant number of the Bishops refused to attend that first Lambeth Conference, believing its authorit