LONDON (ABP) — An Anglican study commission is asking the U.S. Episcopal Church to apologize for electing a gay bishop, warning that if the church refuses it could lead to a split within the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The report, released Oct. 18, said actions by the American and Canadian churches regarding homosexuality were taken “without attaching sufficient importance to the interests of the wider Communion.”
The Episcopal Church (USA) should have known the election and consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire would not be acceptable to many Anglicans worldwide. As a result, the Episcopal Church is “invited to express its regret” that Robinson's appointment has caused such a deep rift worldwide, says the study by the Lambeth Commission on Communion, called the Windsor Report 2004.
Worldwide Anglican authorities in 1998 said homosexuality is incompatible with biblical teaching and church doctrine. Conservative Anglicans, particularly in Africa, have demanded the American church be disciplined for Robinson's appointment, and some American Anglicans want to be removed from the authority of bishops who support homosexuality.
But the long-awaited Windsor Report does not call for the Episcopal Church — the American arm of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion — to rescind Robinson's election. Instead, it asks the American church to place a moratorium on the election of other bishops in same-sex relationships “until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges.”
The report studied not only Robinson's election but approval by the American and Canadian churches for ceremonies recognizing same-sex unions. However, the report saves some of its criticism for those conservative bishops who have “intervened” in the dispute by accepting churches opposed to homosexuality into their own provinces and dioceses. Anglican bodies with overlapping jurisdictions — though they exist — are not desirable, the report says.
“We cannot avoid the conclusion that all have acted in ways incompatible with the Communion principle of interdependence, and our fellowship together has suffered immensely as a result of these developments,” the report says.
It was not appropriate for national churches or local dioceses to elect bishops or adopt practices that are at odds with the larger church, the commission said. The commitment to maintain unity between branches of the church supercedes the rights of local or regional bodies on issues for which there is no worldwide consensus.
For instance, the report notes, on the issues of appointing female or divorced bishops, while opinions vary worldwide, such actions represent “a degree of impairment which the Communion could bear.”
But the need to maintain unity and avoid offending other Anglicans is more important than homosexuality or any other one issue, the report said. “What is needed is a change of outlook on the part of those involved in the process of appointment to take account of our bonds of affection and interdependence,” the commissioners said.
Until the American church apologizes, the report adds in careful and polite language, the American officials who participated in his consecration ceremony “should be invited to consider in all conscience whether they should withdraw themselves from representative functions in the Anglican Communion.”
Recusing themselves from international leadership would “create the space necessary to enable the healing of the Communion,” the report notes.
In a statement, Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, said: “We regret how difficult and painful actions of our church have been in many provinces of our Communion, and the negative repercussions that have been felt by brother and sister Anglicans.” But Griswold stopped short of saying Robinson's ordination was wrong. He said he is “obliged to affirm the presence and positive contribution of gay and lesbian persons to every aspect of the life of our church and in all orders of ministry.”
Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, a critic of Robinson's election, said the Windsor Report is not strong enough to compel the American church to reverse its action. The commission “is more concerned about keeping the family together than it is about the truth of the gospel,” Duncan said, according to the Washington Post.
The Lambeth Commission pointed out the Episcopal Church was acting within its constitutional rights to elect Robinson and that the Anglican Communion lacks clear guidelines for settling such differences or recognizing when doctrinal changes are warranted.
As a result, the commissioners called for the development of an Anglican Covenant, to be adopted by all 38 church provinces, that would spell out the importance of unity and the means of interdependence within the Anglican church, scattered across 164 countries.
In order to restore fellowship between national Anglican bodies, the report adds, formal discussions of reconciliation may be needed, concluding with a liturgy of reconciliation, “which would mark a new beginning for the Communion and a common commitment to proclaim the gospel of Christ to a broken and needy world.”
The commission did not call for amendments to the bishop-selection process or further hearings on Robinson's election. But it did call for Anglicans to continue deliberations on the issue of homosexuals in leadership, “so that greater common understanding might be obtained on the underlying issue of same-gender relationships.”
“We particularly request a contribution from the Episcopal Church (USA) which explains, from within the sources of authority that we as Anglicans have received in scripture, the apostolic tradition and reasoned reflection, how a person living in a same-gender union may be considered eligible to lead the flock of Christ.”
In a sober conclusion, the report warns, “There remains a very real danger that we will not choose to walk together.” If the commission's recommendations are not implemented, the report added, “we will have to begin to learn how to walk apart.”
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