ness and authentic ministry in one becomes important to clarify that the While argument continues about
another, the relation of communion Communion as a whole is not com- exactly how much force is possessed by
pledges us to support each other’s mitted to receiving the new interpre- a Resolution of the Lambeth Confer-
efforts to win people for Christ and tation and that there must be ways in ence such as the 1998 Lambeth Confer-
to serve the world in his Name. which others can appropriately distance ence Resolution on sexuality, it is true,
Communion thus means the shar- themselves from decisions and poli- as I have repeatedly said, that the 1998
ing of resources and skills in order to cies which they have not agreed. This Resolution is the only point of refer-
enable one another to proclaim and is important in our relations with our ence clearly agreed by the overwhelm-
serve in this way. own local contexts and equally in our ing majority of the Communion. This is
It is in this context that we must think ecumenical (and interfaith) encounters, the point where our common reading of
about the present crisis, which is in sig- to avoid confusion and deep misunder- Scripture stands, along with the common
nificant part a crisis about whether we standing. reading of the majority within the Chris-
can fully, honestly and gratefully recog- The desire to establish this distance has tian churches worldwide and through
nise these gifts in each other. led some to conclude that, since the first the centuries.
condition of recognisability (a common Thus it is not surprising if some have
Disagreements reading and understanding of Scripture) concluded that the official organs of
The debates about sexuality, significant is not met, the whole structure of mission The Episcopal Church, in confirming
as they may be, are symptoms of our con- the election of Gene Robinson and in
fusion about these basic principles of rec- giving what many regard as implicit
ognition. It is too easy to make the debate
the refusal to meet can be
sanction to same-sex blessings of a
a standoff between those who are ‘for’ public nature, have put in question the
and those who are ‘against’ the welcom-
a refusal of the cross
degree to which it can be recognised as
ing of homosexual people in the Church. belonging to the same family by decid-
The Instruments of Communion have ing to act against the strong, reiterated
consistently and very strongly repeated and ministry has failed in a local church and consistent advice of the Instru-
that it is part of our Christian and Angli- that commits itself to a new reading of ments of Communion. The repeated
can discipleship to condemn homopho- the Bible. Hence the willingness of some requests for clarification to The Epis-
bic prejudice and violence, to defend the to provide supplementary ministerial copal Church, difficult and frustrating
human rights and civil liberties of homo- care through the adoption of parishes as they have proved for that province,
sexual people and to offer them the same in distant provinces or the ordination of have been an attempt by the Commun-
pastoral care and loving service that we ministers for distant provinces. ion at large to deal with the many anxie-
owe to all in Christ’s name. But the deeper ties expressed in this regard. The matter
question is about what we believe we are Rivalry and confusion is further complicated by the fact that
free to do, if we seek to be recognisably Successive Lambeth Conferences and several within The Episcopal Church,
faithful to Scripture and the moral tradi- Primates’ Meetings have, however, cau- including a significant number of bish-
tion of the wider Church, with respect tioned very strongly against such pro- ops and some diocesan conventions,
to blessing and sanctioning in the name vision. It creates a seriously anomalous have clearly distanced themselves from
of the Church certain personal decisions position. It does not appeal to a clear or the prevailing view in their province
about what constitutes an acceptable universal principle by which it may be as expressed in its public policies and
Christian lifestyle. Insofar as there is cur- decided that a local church’s ministry is declarations. This includes the bishops
rently any consensus in the Communion completely defective. On the ground, it who have committed themselves to the
about this, it is not in favour of change creates rivalry and confusion. It opens proposals of the Windsor Report in
in our discipline or our interpretation of the door to complex and unedifying their Camp Allen conference, as well as
the Bible. legal wrangles in civil courts. It cre- others who have looked for more radi-
This is why the episcopal ordination of ates a situation in which pastoral care cal solutions. Without elaborating on
a person in a same-sex union or a claim and oversight have to be exercised at a the practical implications of this or the
to the freedom to make liturgical decla- great distance. The view that has been complicated and diverse politics of the
rations about the character of same-sex expressed by all the Instruments of Com- situation, it is obvious that such dioceses
unions inevitably raises the question of munion in recent years is that interven- and bishops cannot be regarded as defi-
whether a local church is still fully rec- tions are not to be sanctioned. It would cient in recognisable faithfulness to the
ognisable within the one family of prac- seem reasonable to say that this princi- common deposit and the common lan-
tice and reflection. Where one part of the ple should only be overridden when the guage and practice of the Communion.
family makes a decisive move that plainly Communion together had in some way If their faith and practice are recognised
implies a new understanding of Scripture concluded, not only that a province was by other churches in the Communion
that has not been received and agreed by behaving anomalously, but that this was as representing the common mind of
the wider Church, it is not surprising that so serious as to compromise the entire the Anglican Church, they are clearly in
others find a problem in knowing how far ministry and mission the province was fellowship with the Communion. The
they are still speaking the same language. undertaking. Without such a condi- practical challenge then becomes to
And because what one local church says tion, the risk is magnified of smaller and find ways of working out a fruitful, sus-
is naturally taken as representative of smaller groups taking to themselves the tainable and honest relation for them
what others might say, we have the pain- authority to decide on the adequacy of both with their own province and with
ful situation of some communities being a neighbour’s ministerial life or spiritual the wider Communion.
associated with views and actions which authenticity. The gospels and the epistles That challenge is not best addressed by
they deplore or which they simply have of Paul alike warn us against a hasty final a series of ad hoc arrangements with indi-
not considered. judgement on the spiritual state of our vidual provinces elsewhere, as the Dar-
Where such a situation arises, it neighbours. es-Salaam communiqué made plain. The
January 2008
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newdirections
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21
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