Morningside The Windsor Report Homosexuality - the very word is a conversation-stopper. It was years before I
began to think and read about it, because I always experienced an instant,
tummy-churning revulsion at the very mention of same-sex attraction and
relationships. I suspect that most healthily heterosexual humans have been
reacting in the same emotive way; and that makes us part of the problem instead
of part of a solution. The Church must not decide its policies by instinctive
reactions; we are called by God to be responsibly thoughtful about the fact
that a substantial proportion of our fellow-humans are differently made and
have never had any other option, and the awful fact that this minority, which
includes some members of the Church, has for generations been treated as if they
were being immoral, perverted and disgusting. I discovered that my instinctive
reaction was unreasonable and unjust. The Windsor Report, however, is not about homosexuality. It is the report of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and chaired by Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh. The report is about the unity of the Anglican Communion, more seriously threatened with disruption than ever before by the disagreement of Anglican Churches over homosexual practice. Dr Eames points out that such disagreements are not only among our Provinces, but within our dioceses and congregations, and throughout other world Christian Churches. But he regrets the introduction of "a degree of harshness and lack of charity which is new to Anglicanism. A process of dissent is not new to the Communion but it has never before been expressed with such. force or in ways which have been so accessible to international scrutiny."1 - which last may mean, "Think before you speak to television interviewers." Anglicanism does not have a Pope appointing diocesan bishops throughout
the world, nor a Vatican dictating centrally-made policies to all dioceses.
Anglicans are a family of self-governing Churches, held together, said Bishop
John Howe, by bonds of affection. We would not have it otherwise: we belong
together out of love and shared vision, not out of subordination to an
authoritative central directorate. But, as all present know, a family's bonds
of affection can be severely strained, even disrupted, by a family quarrel. How
does the Anglican family cope with radical disagreement among its Churches? The
Windsor Report offers a perceptive description, well-documented, of what in
fact holds the Anglican Communion together; a careful discernment of why the
present disagreement over homosexual practice is threatening to split the
Anglican Communion apart: and specific practical steps for each wing of the
dispute to take towards reconciliation. We'll look, necessarily briefly, at
each of these three in turn. (a) The Commission identifies four components of Anglican unity: a
shared way of praying through a book, a submission of the life of the Church to
God's will revealed as we study the Bible together, a historic common link with
the Archbishop of Canterbury, and "a web of relationships - of
bishops, consultative bodies, companion dioceses, projects of common mission,
engagement with ecumenical partners - that are the means and the signs of
common life."2 With the humorous observation
that Anglicans tend to be more aware of their failures in fellowship than of
their achievements as a Communion, the report notes the way discussion proceeds
in the Anglican Communion, as with the Ordination of women. Some Churches move
more quickly than others (cultural factors being influential), with the danger
that conservative Churches might refuse to remain in communion with innovating
Churches. As in the early Church as it faced doctrinal evolution, there is a
process of reception: new ideas are digested, discussed, assessed, and all the
time the central agencies work at promoting debate and maintaining
relationships. In that way we respect each other, learn from each other, and
find ourselves being led into fuller understanding, greater agreement and
deeper fellowship. (b) What has gone wrong in the debate on homosexuality is that certain
Churches moved too quickly to act on agreement obtained in the province,
estranging not only other Anglican Churches but many of their own dissenting members.
The role of the central agencies as a sort of switchboard was neglected, and
the duty to pursue discussion and Bible study with the other Anglican Churches
was ignored. As a result, some of the others reacted too soon and too strongly.
Trust broke down, (c) There are plain lessons here about how not to handle controversy,
and the Commission says frankly that each of the extremes failed to follow the
well established guidelines that reflect the Anglican Churches' classic
"mutual interdependence and responsibility in the Body of Christ."3 But at this stage in the debate on homosexual practice, is there a way
back from confrontation to reconciliation? The Lambeth Commission believes so,
and makes three points. (d) The world's Anglican Churches are autonomous. In our own Church,
Canon Law and doctrinal decisions are made by our General Synod, not by any
Anglican international body. Each Anglican Church has authority over its own
life; but that ought not to mean without regard to what we may be doing to our
sisterChurches. As this report says, "The key idea is
autonomy-in-communion, that is, freedom held within interdependence.4 "Doctrinal evolution is not
something we can stop, for it goes on all the time; but we must take our
partner-Churches with us. We must pay due regard to the shared Anglican
inheritance, including for example the obligation to be faithful to the truth
of God as it is constantly being revealed to us in our study of the Bible. We
are much given these days to celebrating our diversity, and seldom pause to
work out at what point the range of our diversity begins to impair our unity”. But that's my observation, not the report's! (2) The Commission recommends the drafting of an Anglican Covenant to
which each Anglican Church should give formal adherence, committing it to
working with the others on contentious issues, so that our interdependence is
written into each Church's theory and practice. (3) The American and Canadian Episcopal Churches are told roundly that
in backing the election to the episcopate of an openly practising homosexual,
and in providing orders of service for the blessing of same-sex unions, they
have acted "without attaching sufficient
importance to the interests of the wider Communion,"5 Hostile interference by bishops from outside North America is also
rebuked. The American Church is invited to express its regret over its
disregard of the clear mind of the Anglican Communion, and to forego
consecration of any more practising homosexuals to the episcopate pending the
emergence of a wider Anglican consensus on the subject. I confess that I'm rather worried about this last part. Our own Church's
experience in the debates over the marriage of divorced persons and the
ordination of women is that those of conservative views don't start reading or
thinking about new views until somebody rocks the boat. That's why these controversies
take so many years to work through. The Windsor Report might encourage
conservative Anglicans to ignore the new thinking that in some places is making
delay look like a violation of human rights. The really important thing is that
people come out of entrenched positions and restart the international
discussion so that it can proceed with urgency. Probably I should have more
confidence in our four "Instruments of Unity," the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the
Primates' Meeting, none of whom, in the current debate, is likely to let the
grass grow under their feet. It must be obvious to you that I think the Windsor Report is a valuable
study, not only for expounding and documenting the Anglican Communion's understanding
of its unity, but also for its analysis of our failures in the current debate
and its suggestions for doing better next time. After all, the motto of the
Anglican Communion is the Greek of John 8:32, where Jesus says, "And the
truth will set you free."
Bob Halliday NOTES |
