wfn.org | [ENS] Anglicans worldwide look for clues to the future in

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

statement from Primates' Meeting

10/20/2003 

Anglicans worldwide look for clues to the future in statement from
Primates' Meeting

by James Solheim 

[Episcopal News Service] Anglicans and Episcopalians around the world
are examining the statement from the October 15-16 meeting of the
primates of the Anglican Communion trying to determine whether the
Anglican Communion is headed for a split-or a new way to live with its
differences.
 
The statement was very blunt in describing the threats to the unity of
the Anglican Communion posed by the election and confirmation by the
General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the Rev. Gene Robinson as
bishop in New Hampshire and the approval of same-sex blessings in the
Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada.
 
"If his consecration proceeds we recognize 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," the statement warned, adding that "many provinces are
likely to consider themselves to be out of communion with the Episcopal
Church." It concluded, "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 whether they can remain in communion
with provinces that choose not to break communion with the Episcopal
Church."
 
The center holds
 
In a news conference at the conclusion of the conclave, Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams seemed clearly relieved that the center had
held. He said that the statement was "an honest statement of where we
are, a statement of our willingness to work together, and recognition of
the obstacles to that working together which we still face."
 
Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold said in the news conference that he
stands fully behind the process used to elect Robinson and plans to
attend the consecration. "I do think what binds us together is deeper
than some of the things that divide us," agreeing with Williams that it
was important to "keep our focus on the mission we share because there
is so much in the world that cries out for our attention-beyond the
issues of human sexuality."
 
In an October 3 letter prior to the London meeting, Griswold said that
he hoped "all of us might move beyond a spirit of condemnation and
reaction" and avoid labeling or stereotyping those who disagree with
each other.
 
Huge crisis looming
 
In an interview with BBC Radio after the meeting, however, Williams
appeared more gloomy about the future. "Undoubtedly there is a huge
crisis looming," he said. "I think what we have achieved this week,
though, is at least to find some way of talking through the crisis
without instantly jumping into what appear to be quick solutions."
 
He said that the appointment of a commission to spend a year sorting
through the issues will provide some "thinking time, inviting provinces
to reflect on their reactions" and examine the "possible implications of
a split because there are constitutional, legal questions for al
churches involved."
 
When asked directly if he thought Robinson should be consecrated, he
said, "No, I don't." He said that such a decision should be made by the
whole church. 
 
Archbishop Michael Peers of the Anglican Church of Canada was relieved
that the statement affirms the autonomy of the member provinces of the
Anglican Communion. "That's a very strong principle and has been ever
since the Reformation. The document says that the possibility of
breaking communion exists," he said, admitting that there are "dark,
dark clouds on the horizon."
 
Hope and frustration
 
Both sides reacted quickly, some with cautious hope and others with
clear and continuing frustrations.
 
A statement from the Diocese of New Hampshire after the Primates'
Meeting said that Robinson's sexuality should be regarded as
"incidental" to his abilities as a bishop. "Canon Robinson was elected
based on his nearly three decades of ministry in the diocese, of his
considerable pastoral skills, and his vision for ministry," the
statement said.
 
The American Anglican Council (AAC) issued a statement arguing that the
statement by the primates was a "clear rebuke" of the General
Convention's decision to confirm the election of Robinson. Its board
will meet soon to develop a strategy in the wake of the November 2
consecration of Robinson.
 
Others were hoping for more concrete action, especially to discipline
the Episcopal Church. "There will be a split because there is no
option," said Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Province of the
Southern Cone in South America. 
 
The Rev. David Roseberry of Plano, Texas, one of the hosts of the recent
AAC meeting in Dallas, called the statement by the primates a "stunning
decision," one that represents "a substantial intervention." Not only
does it reaffirm the church's traditional teaching on sexuality, as
represented by resolutions at the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Anglican
bishops, "It sets up a mechanism by which sanctions and discipline are,
for the first time, possible in the Anglican Communion, from the
archbishop of Canterbury to another province," and it provides "a way to
protect beleaguered parishes and individuals throughout the Episcopal
Church whose bishops may be hostile to the orthodox faith."
 
Other voices weigh in
 
Former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, added his voice to the
mix, calling Robinson's confirmation "an ecumenical scandal" that is
diverting the church from more important issues. At a clergy retreat in
South Carolina, he expressed the hope that nobody pulls out of the
Anglican Communion over the disagreement. "I strongly resist a
realignment of the communion," he said.
 
Robinson himself made it quite clear that he is convinced God wants him
to go forward. "This is one of the hardest things I'll ever do," he told
a Sunday adult education class at Grace Church in Manchester, New
Hampshire, according to press accounts. "I do have this sense I'm
supposed to go forward, and I do feel that's coming from God and not my
own ego. But I don't know." He was accompanied by a police officer
because of death threats.
 
When asked if he might be willing to reconsider because of the threat to
unity, Robinson said, "If I step down, do you rally think other
qualified gays and lesbians wouldn't be elected? My standing down isn't
going to make it all go away."
 
"I don't want anyone to leave the church," he said, "and I don't like
being thought of as the reason they leave the church." He said that the
acrimonious debate on sexuality would continue, with or without him.
"It's going to be messy for a while," but he predicted that the church
would survive the turmoil. "This is not our church to win or lose, it's
God's church."
 
Coming realignment
 
Yet Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, vice president of the AAC and a
leading conservative spokesman, said that the statement paved the way
for a realignment of the Episcopal Church, creating a network of
"confessing" parishes and dioceses in North America. Speaking at the AAC
Dallas meeting, he said that dioceses will "deepen their level of
cooperation and interdependence" and will create what he called a
Network of Confessing Dioceses and Parishes, recognized by the primates
as the one "with which they have communion and common cause, the remnant
as an Episcopal Church under judgment." He added that the network "will
extend across national borders from the beginning."
 
"There are parishes in every state in the union that would want to be
allied with and provided for by a bishop they believe is teaching the
faith," according to an AP report. "They would not want to be part of a
diocese where same-sex blessings take place."
 
Reaction from the Rev. David Anderson, executive director of the AAC,
was positive because "while the primates did not discipline New
Westminster or the Episcopal Church, they did issue a firm and direct
warning, opening the door to the possibility of intervention." He said
that a break in the church was "in the vicinity of 80 percent likely if
the consecration goes forward."
 
Bishop Edward Salmon of South Carolina said he was "greatly encouraged"
by the statement. Among the reasons he cited was the call for provinces
"to make adequate provision for dissenting minorities in consultation
with the archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of the primates, not the
local leadership." He said the statement also made it clear that "no
province or diocese or congregation has the authority to unilaterally
substitute an alternative teaching as if it were the teaching of the
Anglican Communion."
 
Conservative Christianity Today columnist, Douglas LeBlanc, said that,
"in reality, it appears, members of the American Anglican Council and
other orthodox Anglicans just got clobbered." He said that the primates
"merely acknowledge" the impending crisis in the Anglican Communion.
"Heaven forbid that they attempt to prevent it," he said, arguing that
the statement sounds "too clearly American and British. If we do not
soon hear the lyrical voices of African primates, some of us believe
today's Episcopal Church will be tomorrow's Anglican Communion. That is
not news of joy and glad tidings."
 
Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Southern Africa, the only African
primate to speak in favor of homosexual ordinations, argued that it was
necessary to consider the perspective. "We've been there before as a
church not so long ago when the first woman bishop was elected, there
was a big hype in the communion. And we survived. It's in the nature of
the church to live in this creative tension."
 
A former primate of Central Africa, Archbishop Walter Makhulu, said his
experiences under apartheid had led him to oppose an "exclusive church."
Preaching at a service sponsored by Inclusive Church, a pro-gay lobby in
England, he described the exclusion of gays as comparable with
apartheid. "It is a heresy in the same way as apartheid was described as
heresy," He said. 
 
Others disagreed. "The homosexuality issue is of massive importance
because it makes mission incredibly difficult when the Anglican Church
is presented in terms of Western decadence and lax morality in largely
Muslim countries," said Bishop David Evans, retired general secretary of
the South American Missionary Society (SAMS). "The southern primates are
very angry about this. They have got a strategy planned for November 2"
when Robinson is scheduled to be consecrated.
 
Diocesan reactions vary
 
Reaction on the diocesan level is running the gamut. Delegates to the
convention of the Diocese of Dallas voted to reduce the annual
contribution of $512,161 to the national church to zero, while noting
that parishes could make direct contributions with the approval of their
vestries. The convention also called on Robinson to renounce his
position as bishop-elect.
 
In the Diocese of Atlanta, Bishop J. Neil Alexander said that the
primates' statement reinforced his belief that the Anglican Communion
would eventually work through its theological differences. "The document
suggests that while on other matters related to homosexuality we are not
of a common mind, the center of the communion is holding."
 
The Diocese of Southwest Florida even halted its convention, already in
session, a few days before the primates met. "In light of the rapidly
unfolding events that surround us, I ask that we break and reconvene,"
Bishop John Lipscomb said. "Now is not the time to declare our lives cut
off from one another. What we do need is constructive engagement with
one another," he said. "Our primary concern must remain the mission of
the church at home and abroad."
 
Bishop William Persell of Chicago told a clergy gathering that his role
as a bishop charged to protect the unity of the church is in part "to
create a safe place where we can discuss openly and without fear the
issues on which we disagree."
 
Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish in the Diocese of Utah issued a statement
supporting the consecration of Robinson while expressing a hope that the
archbishop of Canterbury "will lead us in paths that, while challenging
all of us, will also lead eventually to reconciliation and unity,
however unlikely that may appear at the present moment."
 
Reexamining relationships
 
In the Diocese of Quincy (Illinois), delegates repudiated the decisions
of the General Convention and committed the diocese to "ongoing
communion and fellowship" with those who opposed the decisions. It
expressed an openness "to take those steps necessary to begin to explore
a possible realignment of churches and dioceses in the Americas." The
diocese will meet January 10 to explore its future relationship with the
Episcopal Church, after "time to consult with other Episcopal dioceses
around the country who are also considering realignment."
 
Yet some dioceses continued to express support for Robinson's
consecration-and the blessing of same-gender relationships. The Diocese
of Nevada, for example, passed a resolution at its convention that said
"desiring to support relationships of mutuality and fidelity which
mediate the grace of God between those persons for whom the celebration
and blessing of a marriage is not available, does hereby recognize that
ceremonies to celebrate the relationships of such persons who are
baptized members in good standing in this diocese may be conducted by
clergy in this diocese, with the approval of the bishop, respecting
pastoral discretion." The vote was 113 in favor and 58 opposed.
 
Bishop David Bane of Southern Virginia, who said he knows Robinson and
respects his gifts for ministry, voted against his confirmation "knowing
that people of deep faith remain deeply divided over this matter." In a
statement in response to the Primates' Meting, he said that he was
against any efforts "to divide the Episcopal Church into new
jurisdictions or subvert the church's episcopal leadership, diocesan or
national." He said that "what grieves the heart of God the most is when
we allow our differences to tear apart the Body of Christ." He
concluded, "We can neither ignore the pain, disappointment and sadness
of all who oppose the consecration of Gene Robinson, nor the fear and
alienation and disenfranchisement of Christians who have lived for
generations knowing that their sexual orientation put them in constant
danger of humiliation and abuse." 

-- James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service.