London, November 2014. The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev & Rt Hon Justin Welby, hosted a dinner to celebrate the 31 years of service that delegation knight Sir Ewan Harper, CBE, a Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Francis I has given as a founding Trustee, Secretary and finally Chairman of the Lambeth Trust.
The Lambeth Trust had been formed to support the work of archbishops by Robert Runcie. Under Archbishop George Carey, a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I, it had grown to embrace the newly formed Lambeth Partnership, which stood with each archbishop in prayer and to offer financial help with new initiatives which would not have been possible without that support. Many of these new enterprises had an ecumenical emphasis embracing other Christian Churches and reaching out to other faiths, exemplified by Archbishop Rowan Williams’s creation of “Fresh expressions” as a new way of extending the reach of the Kingdom through practical social work. His Anglican Alliance had a global reach.
Archbishop Justin welcomed the Partnership as a source of prayer and encouragement for the three threads of his own archiepiscopacy; renewal, reconciliation and evangelism, with a first emphasis on a reconciliation ministry and the formation of the Community of St Anselm at Lambeth palace.
The dinner was attended by the two previous archbishops, with both of them joining Archbishop Welby in paying tributes to the work of the Trust and the Partnership, and of Sir Ewan at their centre, finishing as chairman.
The Chancery also wishes to extend to Sir Ewan Harper every good wish in his much deserved retirement and looks forward to his continued support and involvement with the British & Irish Delegation.