wfn.org | Anglican Journal News: Report urges 'expressions of regret'

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

===================================
a  c  c     w  e  b	 n  e  w  s
   The Anglican Church of Canada
      http://www.anglican.ca/
===================================
Anglican Journal News: Report urges 'expressions of regret'
Blessings moratorium recommended

Oct. 18, 2004 - Apologies from the diocese of New Westminster and the
Episcopal Church of the United States (ECUSA) for the "deep offence"
their decisions regarding sexuality have caused to "many faithful
Anglicans," and a moratorium on same-sex blessings as well as the
consecration of gay bishops were among the recommendations made by a
commission to heal current rifts among Anglicans worldwide.
       But the much-anticipated report of the Lambeth Commission,
entitled Windsor Report 2004 and released Oct. 18, also asked bishops
who have unilaterally provided alternative episcopal oversight to
dissenting minorities in ECUSA and New Westminster to apologize for "the
consequences of their actions" and recommends a similar moratorium "on
any further interventions." It recommends instead a delegated episcopal
oversight model introduced by ECUSA, which involves a diocesan bishop on
the matter of choosing an episcopal visitor (or visiting bishop) for
aggrieved parishes.
       "All have acted in ways incompatible with the Communion principle
of interdependence, and our fellowship has suffered immensely as a
result of these developments," said the report, which Archbishop Robin
Eames, primate of the Church of Ireland and chair of the commission,
presented to a packed press conference at St. Paul's Cathedral Crypt in
London.
       The commission also urged bishops who took part in the
consecration last November of gay bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire
as well as those bishops in New Westminster and ECUSA who have
authorized same-sex blessings to consider withdrawing "from
representative functions in the Anglican Communion." The report said the
moratoria will be in effect "until some new consensus in the Anglican
Communion emerges."
       The report advised that Bishop Robinson's "acceptability" as a
bishop be "under close review" by a proposed Council of Advice. It urged
Archbishop Williams to "exercise very reasonable caution in inviting or
admitting (Bishop Robinson) to the councils of the Communion" given "the
widespread unacceptability of his ministry in other provinces."
       The commission was created by Archbishop Rowan Williams to find
ways of maintaining "the highest degree of communion possible" in the
Anglican Communion, which is composed of 38 self-governing provinces in
164 countries. Archbishop Williams, who also appeared at the press
conference, praised the work of the group, which represented all ends of
the theological and geographical spectrum. "The commission has not only
produced a report but a unanimous one and that in itself counts as a
considerable achievement and a sign of hope," he said.
       "This report is not a judgment," wrote Archbishop Eames in his
foreword to the report. "It is part of a pilgrimage towards healing and
reconciliation." He warned of disastrous consequences for ignoring the
recommendations. "There remains a very real danger that we will not
choose to walk together. Should the call to halt and find ways of
continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to
begin to learn to walk apart."
       Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, the only Canadian member of the
17-member commission, said the report does not call for apologies but,
rather, expressions of regret. "'I regret very much that what I've done
has hurt you.' 'I apologize for what I've done.' Those are two very
different statements," she said in an interview. She was reacting to
media reports that the commission was suggesting apologies from ECUSA
and New Westminster.
       She noted that the report does not ask that ECUSA or New
Westminster to "express regret" for consecrating Bishop Robinson or for
authorizing same-sex blessings -- only for the consequences of those
actions. "(The commission's) mandate was around what makes and breaks
communion and it was felt that the way in which those actions were taken
was what caused events in the communion," she said. "And equally,
therefore, those who came in to take parishes under their wing were also
breaching communion by not paying attention to the traditions of the
church around not intervening and not consulting."
       One of the commission members -- Archbishop Bernard Malango,
primate of Central Africa -- has intervened on behalf of conservative
dioceses in North America. Asked if she expected him to express regret
for his actions, Ms. Barnett-Cowan said, "That is the hope of the
commission."
       Ms. Barnett-Cowan, who is director of faith, worship and ministry
of the Anglican Church of Canada, said the commission, in its
consultations, heard that the worldwide uproar was not so much because a
gay bishop had been consecrated or that same-sex blessings were approved
but because of perceptions that "North Americans were going ahead off
their own bat just because they want to ... that people didn't pay
sufficient attention to the deeply held convictions and emotions of
other people."
       Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, primate of the Anglican Church of
Canada, said the 93-page report reflected a "positive will" to hold the
Anglican Communion together. He called the recommendations "balanced"
and "reasonable," but declined to comment on whether he would advise New
Westminster bishop Michael Ingham to accept the commission's advice.
       Archbishop Hutchison said he would likely contact the diocese of
Toronto, which meets for a special synod Nov. 27 to discuss same-sex
blessings, though he declined to comment on what he would recommend to
Colin Johnson, bishop of Toronto.
       The report contained unusually strong language in its criticisms
of ECUSA and New Westminster's actions.
       "We believe that to proceed unilaterally with the authorization of
public rites of blessing for same-sex unions ... constitutes action in
breach of the legitimate application of the Christian faith as the
churches of the Anglican Communion have received it," the report said.
It added that, "there is not unqualified freedom on the part of any
bishop or diocese to authorize liturgical texts if they are likely to be
inconsistent with the norms of liturgical and doctrinal usage extant in
the province's Book of Common Prayer or other provincially authorized
texts."
       The report said that the Canadian General Synod's motion last June
affirming "the integrity and sanctity of adult committed same-sex
relationships," along with the consecration of Bishop Robinson and the
authorization in 2002 of same-sex blessings in New Westminster did not
attach "sufficient importance to the interests of the wider Communion."
An apology for having "breached the bonds of affection" would represent
the desire of ECUSA to remain within the communion, the report said.
       The commission also called for a common Anglican covenant and the
creation of a Council of Advice that would help the Archbishop of
Canterbury make decisions crucial to the fate of the Anglican Communion
as major prescriptions to arrest a schism in the Anglican Communion.
       Asked to comment on reactions that the report has been
particularly hard on liberal views represented by ECUSA and New
Westminster, Ms. Barnett-Cowan said, "I think they have to read it
against the background of other stories that were being circulated about
what the commission was supposed to say. It didn't say ECUSA was going
to be kicked out. It doesn't say New Westminster or the Anglican Church
of Canada is kicked out. It didn't say there can't be gay clergy."
       On the issue of having a common Anglican covenant -- a point he
called the report's "largest challenge" -- Archbishop Hutchison noted
that the Anglican Communion "has been growing like topsy," particularly
in the global south, which now finds itself in the majority. He stressed
the need to safeguard the principle of the "independence of provinces,"
particularly in the context of a communion with such divergent cultures,
languages and practices. Recommendations of the Windsor Report

     *
     * The adoption of a common Anglican Covenant "which would make
explicit and forceful the loyalty and bonds of affection which govern
the relationships between the churches of the Communion."
     * A Council of Advice for the Archbishop of Canterbury to assist him
in "crucial decisions."
     * Moratoria on public blessing rites for homosexual couples and on
the election of any bishop who is living in a same-gender union.
"Invites" American and Canadian bishops to "express regret" that the
"bonds of affection" were breached by such actions. Such bishops should
consider withdrawing from "representative functions" in the Anglican
Communion pending such expressions of regret.
     * The Episcopal Church in the United States is invited to express
regret that the "bonds of affection" were breached after the election
and consecration of openly-gay New Hampshire bishop Gene Robinson.
     * Expressions of regret from bishops who have intervened in parishes
and dioceses that disagree with actions concerning homosexuality. A
moratorium on such interventions. Only in situations with an "extreme
breach of trust" should there be a "conditional and temporary provision
of delegated pastoral oversight" with a mutually-agreed commitment
toward reconciliation.
     * Acknowledgement that "the real challenge of the gospel is whether
we live deeply enough in the love of Christ and care sufficiently for
our joint work to bring that love to the world."

_______________________________________________
ACC-News mailing list
ACC-News@anglican.ca
http://anglican.ca/mailman/listinfo/acc-news

This list is maintained by the Anglican Church of Canada to provide news 
about the ACC to interested parties. To unsubscribe send an e-mail message 
to acc-news-request@anglican.ca with "unsubscribe" (without the 
quotes) in the body of your message.