wfn.org | Lambeth takes conservative stance on human sexuality

["Lambeth98" <storm@indigo.ie>]

ACNS LC095 - 5 August 1998

Lambeth takes conservative stance on human sexuality

(Press bulletin: A more complete report will follow)

by James H. Thrall
Lambeth Conference Communications

In a session Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey called
"difficult and painful," the Lambeth Conference approved a
statement on sexuality Wednesday afternoon (August 5) that
rejects homosexual practice as "incompatible with Scripture."

The resolution, submitted by bishops of Section One (Called to
Full Humanity) and amended over the course of nearly three hours
of debate, commits the church to "listen to the experience of
homosexual people," and calls homosexuals "full members of the
Body of Christ." It also condemns "irrational fear of
homosexuals." 

But conservative views prevailed in requiring "abstinence" for
anyone not married. The resolution also states that the
Conference "cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of
same-sex unions, nor the ordination of those involved in such
unions." 

The strong feelings on the topic expressed throughout the
two-and-a-half weeks of the Conference leading up to the vote,
were evident in the bishops' polite but pointed comments during
the debate. The final vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the
amended resolution, with 526 bishops voting in favor to only 70
voting against. Forty-five bishops abstained.

Several speakers objected to adding language that calls
homosexual practice incompatible with Scripture.

"You can pass this, but you will not have a strong statement,"
said Bishop Catherine Roskam of New York (USA). While a previous
speaker, Bishop Peter Adebiyi of Owo (Nigeria), had called any
condoning of homosexuality "evangelical suicide," Bishop Roskam
asserted that "to condemn it, in the form it has been condemned,
is evangelistic suicide in my region."

At one point in the debate, Archbishop David Crawley of British
Columbia and Yukon (Canada) said the original resolution had been
steadily eroded. "A document whose face, a little conservative,
was a face of love and compassion is gradually, bit by bit, step
by step, turning into a judgement and condemnation."

A number of bishops, however, reiterated their beliefs that
scripture forbids homosexuality. In Uganda, said Bishop Winston
Mutebi of Mityana, "the Bible and the apostolic tradition are
authority for all that we do in our church." He urged lesbians
and gay men to repent.

The resolution retained language calling on the church's primates
and the Anglican Consultative Council to monitor the study of
sexuality by provinces throughout the Communion, and to "share
statements and resources."

Speaking to the press after the plenary session, Archbishop Robin
Eames of Armagh (Ireland), who chaired the session, said he was
not surprised at the outcome. "Talking and listening to my fellow
bishops since I arrived, I felt this was the way things would
go," he said. "Looking ahead, what the Lambeth Conference said
today is to Primates, 'Monitor this, watch this.'"

In comments to the plenary just before the vote, Archbishop Carey
endorsed the resolution as standing "wholeheartedly with
traditional Anglican Orthodoxy," but also expressed his belief
that the church's discussion of sexuality will continue.

"I see no room in Holy Scripture or the entire Christian
tradition for any sexual activity outside matrimony," he said.
"The amended motion, actually, is simply saying what we've all
held . . . Anglican belief and morality stand for."

But, he said, "We are aware that we have to go on listening. The
dialogue continues."

For further information, contact:

   Lambeth Conference Communications
   Canterbury Business School
   University of Kent at Canterbury
   Telephone: 01227 827348/9
   Fax: 01227 828085
   Mobile: 0374 800212

   http://www.lambethconference.org