June 23, 2008

The faithful around the Communion have a unique opportunity for Bible Study with their Bishops during the Lambeth Conference as the series ‘Signs on the Way' makes its debut on the Lambeth Conference website.

This special series – focusing on St John's Gospel – complements the Bible studies in which the bishops and their spouses will take part during the Lambeth Conference 2008.

We hope that people throughout the Anglican Communion will use this series as a way of being present in spirit at the Lambeth Conference, supporting their bishops before, during and after this important gathering.

The studies are structured so that they can be used either by groups or by individuals. They can form the basis of personal devotions, a church study group or perhaps a diocesan meeting.

We have made the study guides as accessible as possible, using a series of questions in each case as the basis of the study.

From the Introduction

The Bible studies we offer to you are produced by the same international team of people who were also responsible for the Bible studies at the Lambeth Conference. In the Bible studies written for the bishops and their spouses the focus is on the ‘I am' sayings in the Gospel of John. These present studies, however, focus on the ‘signs' carried out by Jesus in the Gospel of John. The signs take us to the heart of Jesus' ministry and mission – indeed John 20:30-31 suggests that it is through such signs that we come to discover that ‘Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing ...have life in his name.'

The files, in two formats can be found here: http://www.lambethconference.org/lc2008/resources/index.cfm.

Please share the news of these studies in your diocese and parish. You are also encouraged to subscribe to ACNS and Anglican World News and Notes at http://www.anglicancommunion.org, especially during the important weeks ahead.

Anglican Communion News Service, London