Source: AAC and more comments on it at T19
In a pastoral letter to Anglican Communion Primates issued last night, the Archbishop of Canterbury “set out his thinking” on Lambeth Conference 2008. Noting the “lack of enthusiasm for revisiting” decisions on sexuality made at Lambeth 1998, Archbishop Williams made clear that reopening the debate on sexuality, specifically Lambeth Resolution 1.10, would be neither proper nor useful. He also reiterated the fact that Lambeth 1.10 represents the mind of the Communion on sexuality, despite “bitter controversy” surrounding the issue.
This letter is consistent with recent comments from Archbishop Williams regarding the crisis within the Communion. In news reports during the last few weeks, he has expressed “deep unease” with the nomination as bishop of two partnered homosexuals in the Diocese of California, called on the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) to uphold a moratorium on the consecration of non-celibate homosexuals, and reiterated that the mind of the Communion on matters of sexuality cannot be changed by one Province.
Such statements by Archbishop Williams serve to ratchet up pressure on the Episcopal Church for General Convention 2006. With Lambeth 1.10 virtually deemed non-negotiable by the Archbishop of Canterbury for Lambeth 2008, the Episcopal Church is left with an even more strongly defined choice. The Church must abandon its agenda to revise Scripture and 2,000 years of teaching and practice on human sexuality, and it must affirm foundational tenets of Christian faith as well as uphold Lambeth 1.10. Any other course represents a decision to walk apart.
“In the midst of our current crisis, Archbishop Williams is sending a significant and positive message to the Communion,” said the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, President and CEO of the American Anglican Council (AAC). “Anxiety is high nationally and internationally, with a particular focus on General Convention 2006 and Lambeth 2008. It is important for the Archbishop of Canterbury to allay fears that the upcoming Lambeth Conference would be used as a platform to undermine Resolution 1.10, and to reinforce the Communion’s call for the Episcopal Church to make a definitive choice. The heat has been turned up for ECUSA.”
Lambeth 1.10 and the Anglican Consultative Council 2005 called for listening “to the experiences of homosexual persons,” and in his letter, Archbishop Williams reported that Provinces will offer reflections on their experience and discernment regarding sexuality at Lambeth 2008. Such reports, however, will be framed by the central focus of Resolution 1.10, which upholds marriage and deems homosexuality as incompatible with Scripture.
“In its presentation to the Anglican Consultative Council, the Episcopal Church made clear its intent to misuse the listening process as a means to coerce Lambeth 2008 and push for a recall of Resolution 1.10,” Canon Anderson noted. “In his pastoral letter, Archbishop Williams has forestalled those plans; however, because much of the testimony of currently gay and lesbian individuals speaks to the inability to change their orientation, in order to be credible, any listening process must include voices of former homosexuals whose testimonies speak to God’s power to heal and transform individuals—that is, to in fact change.”
“Archbishop Williams has sent a hopeful message that Lambeth 2008 will stand firm in upholding apostolic faith and practice, but potentially explosive issues must still be addressed,” continued Canon Anderson. “Will General Convention 2006 repent, repudiate actions of General Convention 2003, and embrace Anglican doctrine? If General Convention does not clearly and definitively choose Anglican orthodoxy, will Lambeth make the hard decisions necessary to preserve the Communion? Will V. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, and the Episcopal bishops who personally laid hands upon and consecrated him in defiance of the Communion be invited to Lambeth 2008? These questions are critical to the survival of Anglicanism.”