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In 1930, several hundred bishops from the worldwide Anglican Communion met for the ‘Lambeth Conference’. In a letter written at the end of the conference they said,

we have discovered one idea underlying all our long deliberations: it is the idea of witness … the Church is called to bear witness to the supreme revelation of God … which has been given to the world in Jesus Christ our Lord.1

In fact, they said, ‘it would be a true description of the Church of Christ to say that it is a fellowship of witness’.

Much more recently, ‘witness’ has been one of the themes stressed by the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. On the Church of England web page that sets this out as one of his priorities, we read that

Every follower of Christ has witnessed for themselves the abundant love that God has for them, and every one of us is sent in the power of the Holy Spirit to live lives and speak words which tell of that. We do this so that friends and family, colleagues and neighbours can themselves come to witness first hand the goodness of God’s transforming love for them.2

This report from the Faith and Order Commission is an exploration of what this idea of ‘witness’ means in the life of the church. It is not a report that makes detailed recommendations for policy and practice, nor does it address a particular controversy. It is, instead, intended as a theological resource – a reflection on a theme that matters for the life of the whole church. We hope to encourage all God’s people to think of themselves as witnesses, and we hold up some examples that might inspire us all to go further in our witness together.

We believe that thinking about ‘witness’ can help us make sense of the life of the church, and the life of each individual Christian, in the world. It can give us a set of ideas to explore, a set of patterns to look for, and a set of questions to pose.

In Part 1 of this report, we explore some of these ideas, patterns, and questions, under three headings: ‘Seeing, hearing and saying’, ‘Pointing away’, and ‘Learning to communicate’.

In Part 2, we describe a series of practical case studies, which show some of the ways in which witness is happening across the Church of England today.

In Part 3, we gather a set of further reflections on witness in the church, prompted by these case studies.

We hope that, together, these materials will enrich people’s imaginations, spark their creativity, and help the witness of the church to grow.