As the Anglican Communion worldwide reaches the end of its meetings in Tanzania, it the collective wisdom of the Primates of the communion has been released in a communique. Conservatives who hoped that the Episcopal Church in the United States would face some sort of discipline for the blatant disregard of biblical and Anglican standards in the ordination of an openly homosexual bishop and the election of a pro-gay and revisionist female presiding Bishop, no such action seems to be coming.
The communique did make some key points that at least acknowledge the issues in a cursory way. The Windsor Report, an official document of the church which was supposed to have prevented the ordination of gays to the ministry was ingored by the Episcopal church. This is acknowledged.
"the standard of teaching which is presupposed in the Windsor Report and from which the primates have worked. This restates the traditional teaching of the Christian Church that 'in view of the teaching of Scripture, [the Conference] upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage'”
So it would appear to the casual reader that the Primates are acknowledging a universal standard. But later,
"The 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, committed the Provinces 'to listen to the experience of homosexual persons' and called 'all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals'”.
It is not "irrational fear" that drives the agenda of conservative bishops. It is commitment to the text of scripture. This sort of language seems rather cynical and calculated to drum up the notion of "homophobia".
In addition, the communique makes note of the fact that the alternate oversight of conservative congregations provided by Global South bishops does not comply with the Windsor report, which urged respect of jurisdiction.
"A further complication is that a number of dioceses or their bishops have indicated, for a variety of reasons, that they are unable in conscience to accept the primacy of the Presiding Bishop in The Episcopal Church, and have requested the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates to consider making provision for some sort of alternative primatial ministry. At the same time we recognise that the Presiding Bishop has been duly elected in accordance with the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church, which must be respected."
The report did not consider the crossing of jurisdictional boundaries by CANA and AMiA bishops from the Global South to be "morally equivalent" with the ordination of a gay bishop and seems sensitive to the fact that such arrangements of alternative oversight appear necessary, since many Anglicans simply will not submit to the authority of revisionist Bishops.
So the report talks of providing "pastoral care" and the possibility of other arrangements of alternate oversight. But what the report does not do, is address the two issues at the heart of the matter: Does scripture clearly and finally condemn homosexual unions and will the Episcopal Church face any sort of discipline for the ordination of a gay bishop? The answer was tucked away later where one action statement, referring to Windsor:
"confirm(s) that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent (cf TWR, §134); unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion (cf TWR, §134)."
Clearly, the communique holds out the possibility that a new view of gay unions might become the consensus of the communion, making it crystal clear that the idea that scripture has spoken on this issue in a way that is universal, final and authoritative is not held in high regard.
So it appears that at best, the Anglican Communion might get some sort of concession from the Episcopal Church to stop promoting the gay agenda for now on the basis of procedural and legal protocols, but nothing will correct the underlying problem of not believing that scripture speaks God's Words in a fashion that is universal and unchanging.
Add to this the fact that the Anglican Communion recognized Kate Schiori as a legitimate bishop because she was duly elected by the Episcopal Church, ignoring her apostasy and ignoring the women's ordination question altogether. In fact, Schiori was treated rather well. As reported in Virtue Online
"the Communion's first woman Primate, US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, was elected onto the influential Standing Committee of the Primates' Meeting. That puts Bishop Jefferts Schori at the heart of the Anglican Church's policy-making body and places her in pole position at the right hand of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, the Church's "focus for unity".
Looks like more talk, more resolutions and no real action - in fact little possibility of it. Looks like more noises of compliance with traditional biblical standards with the right hand while the left works to subvert those very standards. What options are left to conservative bishops remains unclear. I think Akinola, Orombi and Kolini have the courage to stand alone. I am not sure they have many options. The next few days will be historic for Anglicanism one way or the other.
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