June 2005, Nottingham, England

The Anglican Consultative Council on June 22 unanimously affirmed the “listening process” requested for the Anglican Communion since 1998 and in another resolution endorsed the primates’ February request that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada “voluntarily withdraw their members” from the ACC until the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

The second resolution included an amendment that “interprets reference to the Anglican Consultative Council to include its Standing Committee and the Inter-Anglican Finance and Administration Committee.”

The vote on the second resolution was 30 in favor, 28 against, with 4 abstentions, according to the Anglican Communion Office, and it came after a two-hour session closed to observers, guests and media. It was proposed by ACC member Stanley Isaacs of South East Asia with a list of 12 supporters including Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria.

Commenting after the vote, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said: “The vote, which was contingent on the absence of the six votes of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, reveals a divide within the membership of the ACC. I very much hope that the listening process now mandated by the ACC will be one step in healing this divide. I also hope that the report submitted by the Episcopal Church to the members of the ACC, ‘To Set Our Hope on Christ,’ will be a useful contribution to that process.

“The work and mission of the Anglican Communion is carried out largely through international commissions and networks in which the Episcopal Church continues as a fully active and committed participant,” he said. “It is through these means and our numerous other relationships focused on mission to our hurting world that we will, with God’s grace, find our way forward.”

Elected chairman of the ACC three years ago, the Most Rev. John Paterson, Bishop of Auckland, referred in his address to the situation with the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. “A body which exists by means of a constitution agreed to by all the member churches of the Anglican Communion, and that is required by that constitution to be ‘consultative’ cannot consult fully or properly if all of its members are not sitting at the same table,” he said. “It is surely not for one Instrument of Unity to disempower another?”

The four “instruments of unity” that link the 38 provinces are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, the Primates’ Meeting and the ACC.

Paterson continued, “Many Anglicans know what it is to have been colonized and have no wish to repeat that experience in a new colonizing of the mind and heart. Let ACC-13 declare to our watching and rather anxious church that our Communion is indeed a living Communion, that God lives, that God loves and that we can continue to worship and serve God from our many different perspectives, while still proudly calling ourselves ‘Anglicans.’ ”

As part of its “listening” work, the ACC heard from a number of provinces representing varied views on sexuality.

• Isaacs, a South East Asia delegate, said that he was disappointed with the presentations of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to the council June 21. “I did not find anything in what they said that justified anything on the basis of scripture,” he said. Reading from a statement submitted to the ACC by the primate and bishops of his province, Isaacs said, “In a region dominated by Muslims and Buddhists ... Christianity, which is perceived as a religion of the Westerners, has been subjected to embarrassment and ridicule.” He ended by saying, “We want to say to the members of the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada that we love you in the unfailing love of our Lord Jesus Christ and we long for the time when we can again embrace you without reservation as fellow members of the one same Anglican Communion.”
• Tanzania, Kenya, Peru (Southern Cone), and Congo concurred with the view that homosexuality is incompatible with scripture.
• Brazilian primate Archbishop Orlando Santos de Oliveira read a statement from his House of Bishops explaining that lifestyles and contexts are in the process of change. “We believe in inclusiveness,” he said and asked the Council to pray for the life and work of the Communion.
• Bishop John Noble of North Queensland, Australia, noted that, “Our dioceses are required to listen to God, scripture, the Spirit and the cries of the people beyond our own shores.”
• The Very Rev. Michael Burrows, dean of Cork, Ireland, offered one document for consideration — a letter on sexuality presented by the Church of Ireland bishops nearly two years ago committing to “biblical reflection, mature thinking and patient listening on the part of the church as a whole.”
• A delegate from Scotland said his province is committed to engage the debate around the issues.
• The Venerable Alun Evans, Archdeacon of Carmarthen, Wales, noted a statement issued by the Wales House of Bishops in 1988 initiated the beginning of a listening process, and a guide on human sexuality is available for study throughout the church. In a conference held a few weeks before the ACC met, the Church in Wales affirmed its commitment to being “an inclusive place” for gay and lesbian people.
• Bishop Winston Halapua of the Diocese of Polynesia in Aotearoa, New Zealand, spoke about a resolution from his general synod that acknowledges the contribution of gay and lesbians in the life of church and which established an appropriate process to listen.
• Bishop David Beetge of the Diocese of the Highveld in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa recognized the benefits of diversity and explained that the struggle of apartheid has taught South Africans to walk together despite their differences.

In other business, following lengthy discussion in three sessions, the ACC voted to change its constitution, adding the 37 Anglican primates as ex officio members and altering the membership of the Standing Committee.

The first resolution increased the ACC membership from 78 to 115, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, 39 lay people, 37 primates and 30 clergy/bishops. Formerly, bishops were grouped with primates while clergy was a separate category. Now with the introduction of all the primates, bishops and clergy share a category. The second resolution recommended that at least three of the seven Standing Committee members be lay members, with the others being the president, chairperson, vice-chairperson and five primates.

The ACC reviewed the council’s triennial budget, conducted elections, heard reports and approved a number of other resolutions, including one asking “the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his capacity as President of the Council, to convey to the leaders of the G8 states prior to their meeting in July 2005, a reminder of their responsibility towards the eradication of poverty in the world and the promotion of fair terms of international trade.” It also expressed concern about the Korean and Israeli-Palestinian crises, the situations in the Congo and in Zimbabwe, Southeast Asia's continuing recovery from the tsunami and African drought.

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester, England, and president of Network for Interfaith Concerns of the Anglican Communion, said the work of the network since 1994 prepared it for what was needed following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in the United States. “We were particularly well prepared to respond in dialogue with religious leaders and with scholars,” he said.

The Archbishop of Canterbury stressed the importance of interfaith dialogue and NIFCON. Sharing that he was “surprised” how much of his time is devoted to interfaith matters, Williams spoke of a recent meeting at which many faith leaders shared “what we thought we should be doing in our society.” Topics ranged among moral issues, family and environment and raised the sensitive question of human rights, which is “very differently viewed and interpreted in different cultures.”

“This is a very, very important network,” Williams said. “As the world shrinks in terms of communication our divisions seem to get deeper because we know more about each other.”

The ACC approved a range of ecumenical resolutions, including one encouraging the establishment of the All African Anglican-Lutheran Commission, one welcoming closer relations between Anglican and Methodist churches across the world, one giving thanks for 75 years of Anglican-Old Catholic relations, and one seeking the restart of dialogues of Anglican-Oriental Orthodox Relations. Another measure encouraged dialogue with the Anglican Orthodox relations to “move towards the publication of their agreed statements.”

The ACC also approved a resolution with 13 recommendations for Anglicans and Provinces on environmental education, renewable energy and to “press government, industry and civil society on the moral imperative of taking practical steps towards building sustainable communities.” It agreed at all future meetings, “where possible and practical, to serve only fairly traded beverages, fruit and other produces, and to provide drinking water only from suppliers offering financial support for water-supply and irrigation projects in the developing world.”

On the final day of the meeting, the ACC reviewed plans for the next Lambeth Conference, which will be held at Canterbury Cathedral in mid-July 2008 for two weeks. The Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to issue invitations at the end of 2007.

In a discussion about that meeting’s structure Williams said, “It may be that the shape of the conference has to take more account of the training needs of those who come. Empower and equip must be at the center. … I would like to see it moving away from … long reports from those groups which, let’s be honest, tend to gather dust. That depends on bishops around the world telling us what their priorities are.” He suggested a number of workshops as a model.

The Anglican Communion has 38 member provinces, with 77 million members in 164 countries. The Council’s purpose is to provide consultation and guidance on policy issues, including mission and ecumenism. It was formed in 1969. Membership in the Anglican Communion is a matter determined by each province’s direct formal relationship with the See of Canterbury.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold joined six American presenters June 21 at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham, England, explaining to the ACC that while the Episcopal Church includes diverse views on sexuality, common mission continues. The 2003 General Convention’s consent to the election as bishop of a man living openly in relationship with another man spurred the controversy.

“Although certain actions by the Episcopal Church have deeply distressed a number of you, we have not come to argue,” Griswold said. “I want to be clear that the Episcopal Church has not reached a common mind. However, it is our desire to be faithful to scripture. It is my hope that in the tradition of classical Anglicanism we will be united in Christ’s love and called to serve the world in Christ’s name.”

In 2002, the Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada authorized the blessings of same-gender unions. “We’re here to let you know we value our place in the Anglican Communion,” said Bishop Suffragan Sue Moxley of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

“Same-sex marriages are part of Canadian society and form part of the context of what the Anglican Church of Canada administers,” said Canon Robert Falby, chancellor and lay canon in the diocese of Toronto and member of General Synod. “The church is not bound by, but is influenced by public debate.”

The Canadians presented a packet of materials supporting their presentation, including the 36-page “Report of the Primate’s Theological Commission on the Blessing of Same-Sex Unions.”

The U.S. and Canadian presentations came at the invitation of the ACC.

A group of seven theologians and one historian prepared a 130-page paper at request of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, “To Set Our Hope on Christ: A Response to the Invitation of Windsor Report, Paragraph 135.” That paragraph asks “how a person living in a same gender union may be considered eligible to lead the flock of Christ.” The report may be downloaded from www.anglicanlistening.org/

In his foreword to the text, Griswold wrote, “The Episcopal Church has been seeking to answer this question for nearly 40 years, and at the same time has been addressing a more fundamental question, namely, how can the holiness and faithfulness to which God calls us all be made manifest in human intimacy?”

The foreword continues: “Though we have not reached a common mind, we have come to a place in our discussion such that the clergy and people of a diocese have been able, after prayer and much discernment, to call a man living in a same-sex relationship to be their bishop. As well, a majority of the representatives of the wider church — bishops, clergy and lay persons — have felt guided by the Holy Spirit, again in light of prayer and discernment to consent to the election and consecration.”

The theologians who prepared the paper are the Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, the Rev. Dr. Katherine Grieb and Dr. Timothy Sedgewick of Virginia Theological Seminary; the Rev. Dr. Jay Johnson of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley; the Rev. Dr. Mark McIntosh of Loyola University, Chicago; the Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam, Bishop Suffragan of New York; and Dr. Kathryn Tanner of the University of Chicago Divinity School. Dr. Pamela W. Darling, an historian of General Convention legislation and Episcopal Church ministry, prepared the Appendix, “which delineates the formal contents of the debate over these last four decades,” the presiding bishop said.

Joining Presiding Bishop Griswold in addressing the ACC were the Rt. Rev. Neil Alexander of Atlanta; the Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins of Louisiana; the Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam, Bishop Suffragan of New York, who is one of the Episcopal Church’s three elected delegates to the ACC; the Rev. Michael Battle, academic vice president of Virginia Theological Seminary; the Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, a national organization for gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church and an assisting priest at All Saints Church in Pasadena, California; and Jane Tully, founder of Clergy Families of Lesbians and Gays and a parishioner of St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City.

During the group’s presentation to the ACC, Bishop Roskam welcomed the listening process as recommended by the 1998 Lambeth Commission resolution 1.10, and she recognized that humility is required from those who speak in Western contexts. “Through history we have been more ready to speak than hear,” she said. “It is our desire to hear and learn the theological differences of Anglicans around the world. Perhaps mutual humility is an essential virtue throughout the Anglican Communion.”

The Rev. Michael Battle described how the Episcopal Church has struggled with the issue of sexuality just as the early church struggled with gentiles in its midst. “The inclusion of the gentiles in the early church was of great controversy,” he said. “We have learned to appropriate scripture differently from many other Christians. We are still learning that this remains a complex matter as it did in the early church.”

The Rev. Susan Russell addressed the ACC as the only gay member on the delegation. “In some degree I am charged for speaking for countless [gay and lesbian] people,” she said. “I carry many of their stories with me, and it is my deepest hope that this meeting will be about the beginning of a genuine listening process ... and making the experiences of the gay and lesbian faithful more readily available to the wider church.”

Two bishops from the Episcopal Church, Charles Jenkins of Louisiana and Neil Alexander of Atlanta, voted differently to the consent in the election of Gene Robinson as the first gay man living openly in a same-sex relationship as a bishop of the Episcopal Church. They spoke about how it is possible to hold divergent points of view about sexuality and theological interpretation, yet remain in communion.

Jenkins, who serves the presiding bishop in his council of advice, explained that although he did not give his consent to Robinson’s election and remains convinced that sexuality should be between a man and a woman, “my presence is an act of obedience to Jesus who calls his flock to unity.”

Griswold and Jenkins are in obvious disagreement, Jenkins said, “but I believe in every fiber of my being that Frank Griswold would guard my interest if I could not, and I would guard his if he could not. Such relationships of trust are not uncommon in the Episcopal Church.”

“I affirm in all humility that every bishop — and the majority of bishops, clergy and laity in the Episcopal Church — want to remain a part of the Anglican Communion” he added. “As Christians we highly value family, and I pray that we may continue with integrity and will remain within the Anglican Communion. I do not choose to walk separately from you, and I pray that you will not walk separately from me.”

Alexander gave his consent to Robinson’s election and said, “I did so thoughtfully and prayerfully.” Opinions relating to issues of human sexuality have been passionately voiced on both sides of the argument, he said. He urged people to see this as a season and a time for “a renewed commitment of our life with one another. It means that there needs to be a place in my church for my dear friend Charles Jenkins, because we are committed to each other’s interests at all times.”