wfn.org | [ENS] A Statement by the Primates of the Anglican Communion

["mika larson" <mini.mika@verizon.net>]

meeting in Lambeth Palace

10/16/2003 

A Statement by the Primates of the Anglican Communion meeting in Lambeth
Palace 
October 15th and 16th, 2003.

[Episcopal News Service] The Primates of the Anglican Communion and the
Moderators of the United Churches, meeting together at Lambeth Palace on
the 15th and 16th October, 2003, wish to express our gratitude to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, for calling us together in
response to recent events in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, and
the Episcopal Church (USA), and welcoming us into his home so that we
might take counsel together, and to seek to discern, in an atmosphere of
common prayer and worship, the will and guidance of the Holy Spirit for
the common life of the thirty-eight provinces which constitute our
Communion.  

At a time of tension, we have struggled at great cost with the issues
before us, but have also been renewed and strengthened in our Communion
with one another through our worship and study of the Bible.  This has
led us into a deeper commitment to work together, and we affirm our
pride in the Anglican inheritance of faith and order and our firm desire
to remain part of a Communion, where what we hold in common is much
greater than that which divides us in proclaiming Good News to the
world.

At this time we feel the profound pain and uncertainty shared by others
about our Christian discipleship in the light of controversial decisions
by the Diocese of New Westminster to authorise a Public Rite of Blessing
for those in committed same sex relationships, and by the 74th General
Convention of the Episcopal Church (USA) to confirm the election of a
priest in a committed same sex relationship to the office and work of a
Bishop.  

These actions threaten the unity of our own Communion as well as our
relationships with other parts of Christ's Church, our mission and
witness, and our relations with other faiths, in a world already
confused in areas of sexuality, morality and theology, and polarise
Christian opinion.

As Primates of our Communion seeking to exercise the "enhanced
responsibility" entrusted to us by successive Lambeth Conferences, we
re-affirm our common understanding of the centrality and authority of
Scripture in determining the basis of our faith.  Whilst we acknowledge
a legitimate diversity of interpretation that arises in the Church, this
diversity does not mean that some of us take the authority of Scripture
more lightly than others.  Nevertheless, each province needs to be aware
of the possible effects of its interpretation of Scripture on the life
of other provinces in the Communion.  We commit ourselves afresh to
mutual respect whilst seeking from the Lord a correct discernment of how
God's Word speaks to us in our contemporary world.

We also re-affirm the resolutions made by the bishops of the Anglican
Communion gathered at the Lambeth Conference in 1998 on issues of human
sexuality as having moral force and commanding the respect of the
Communion as its present position on these issues.  We commend the
report of that Conference in its entirety to all members of the Anglican
Communion, valuing especially its emphasis on the need "to listen to the
experience of homosexual persons, and ... to assure them that they are
loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons,
regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of
Christ"; and its acknowledgement of the need for ongoing study on
questions of human sexuality.  

Therefore, as a body we deeply regret the actions of the Diocese of New
Westminster and the Episcopal Church (USA) which appear to a number of
provinces to have short-circuited that process, and could be perceived
to alter unilaterally the teaching of the Anglican Communion on this
issue. They do not.  Whilst we recognise the juridical autonomy of each
province in our Communion, the mutual interdependence of the provinces
means that none has authority unilaterally to substitute an alternative
teaching as if it were the teaching of the entire Anglican Communion.

To this extent, therefore, we must make clear that recent actions in New
Westminster and in the Episcopal Church (USA) do not express the mind of
our Communion as a whole, and these decisions jeopardise our sacramental
fellowship with each other.  We have a particular concern for those who
in all conscience feel bound to dissent from the teaching and practice
of their province in such matters.  Whilst we reaffirm the teaching of
successive Lambeth Conferences that bishops must respect the autonomy
and territorial integrity of dioceses and provinces other than their
own, we call on the provinces concerned to make adequate provision for
episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities within their own area of
pastoral care in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury on
behalf of the Primates.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (USA) has explained to us
the constitutional framework within which the election and confirmation
of a new bishop in the Episcopal Church (USA) takes place.  As Primates,
it is not for us to pass judgement on the constitutional processes of
another province.  We recognise the sensitive balance between provincial
autonomy and the expression of critical opinion by others on the
internal actions of a province.  Nevertheless, many Primates have
pointed to the grave difficulties that this election has raised and will
continue to raise.  In most of our provinces the election of Canon Gene
Robinson would not have been possible since his chosen lifestyle would
give rise to a canonical impediment to his consecration as a bishop. 

If his consecration proceeds, we recognise that we have reached a
crucial and critical point in the life of the Anglican Communion and we
have had to conclude that the future of the Communion itself will be put
in jeopardy. In this case, the ministry of this one bishop will not be
recognised by most of the Anglican world, and many provinces are likely
to consider themselves to be out of Communion with the Episcopal Church
(USA).	This will tear the fabric of our Communion at its deepest level,
and may lead to further division on this and further issues as provinces
have to decide in consequence whether they can remain in communion with
provinces that choose not to break communion with the Episcopal Church
(USA).	

Similar considerations apply to the situation pertaining in the Diocese
of New Westminster.

We have noted that the Lambeth Conference 1998 requested the Archbishop
of Canterbury to establish a commission to consider his own role in
maintaining communion within and between provinces when grave
difficulties arise[1]. We ask him now to establish such a commission,
but that its remit be extended to include urgent and deep theological
and legal reflection on the way in which the dangers we have identified
at this meeting will have to be addressed.  We request that such a
commission complete its work, at least in relation to the issues raised
at this meeting, within twelve months.	

We urge our provinces not to act precipitately on these wider questions,
but take time to share in this process of reflection and to consider
their own constitutional requirements as individual provinces face up to
potential realignments.

Questions of the parity of our canon law, and the nature of the
relationship between the laws of our provinces with one another have
also been raised. We encourage the Network of Legal Advisers established
by the Anglican Consultative Council, meeting in Hong Kong in 2002, to
bring to completion the work which they have already begun on this
question.

It is clear that recent controversies have opened debates within the
life of our Communion which will not be resolved until there has been a
lengthy process of prayer, reflection and substantial work in and
alongside the Commission which we have recommended.  We pray that God
will equip our Communion to be equal to the task and challenges which
lie before it.

"Now I appeal to the elders of your community, as a fellow elder and a
witness to Christ's sufferings, and as one who has shared in the glory
to be revealed:  look after the flock of God whose shepherd you are."
(1 Peter 5.1,2a)

[1] In view of the very grave difficulties encountered in the internal
affairs of some provinces of the Communion, [this conference] invites
the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint a commission to make
recommendations to the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council,
as to the exceptional circumstances and conditions under which, and the
means by which, it would be appropriate for him to exercise an
extraordinary ministry of episcope (pastoral oversight), support and
reconciliation with regard to the internal affairs of a province other
than his own for the sake of maintaining communion with the said
province and between the said province and the rest of the Anglican
Communion. (IV.13.b)