As I noted earlier, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are visiting Cambridge for three days, for the "Cambridge Consultations".  Each of them will be giving public lectures while they are here, and as two of the best known public faces of Christianity, it’s no surprise that they are the most visible feature of the consultations.  But the focus of "A World to believe in"  is the future of our world, the big issues that affect all of us, and what part faith has to play in that.  And one of the issues that’s constantly discussed in blogland is the reaction against an old-fashioned, top-down system of religion.  If we’re looking forward to the future this week, why invite two famous Christians to preach at us? Isn’t that a rather outmoded model?

John Binns is the Vicar of Great St Marys, where a number of the public events are taking place this week.  I asked him what he thought about this issue, and he was quick to emphasise that although the most visible part of the week for the general public is the big public events, the three days as a whole are being viewed by the Archbishops as a pastoral visit to Cambridge – and a pastoral visit is not a teaching or preaching exercise, but a time when the minister listens carefully, with a view to catalysing a way forward.  A pastoral minister doesn’t necessarily advise, although they may do so. Often, by listening intently and asking questions from a different perspective, a pastor will provoke answers from within the individual or community. 

"The Archbishops themselves requested that this should be a listening exercise as much as a speaking exercise," explained John Binns. "During each day there are visits taking place to different centres in and around Cambridge that are concerned with issues as various as homelessness, criminology, genome research, the rapid expansion of Cambridge’s city population, and many more, and the Archbishops have requested that local people will be there to inform them, not the other way about. They have also booked in chunks of time during their visit to be available simply to have pastoral meetings with various individuals who have requested it. The Archbishops see their role here as catalysts in conversation, rather than spokespersons for the faith. These consultations are deliberately wide-ranging, conversational, a sharing of knowledge and vision, rather than a couple of experts telling everyone what to think. In fact, it’s not unlike a blog in a way…"

Today I had lunch with about twenty people, all of whom are working their socks off to make these three days the best they can be. Over coffee, I sat with one Archbishop on either side of me and my laptop and fired your blog-questions at them. Inevitably we ran out of time, and I will get more chances over coffee breaks and car transfers to ask a few more. So keep the questions coming, and watch this space.