“The Windsor Process”

The Anglican Communion web site's Windsor Process pages note that the Windsor Process has "four main elements: an Anglican Covenant, the Listening Process, the Panel of Reference and the Windsor Report 2004." Each element has its own web page and links to relevant materials.

While these pages are a tremendous resource to the Communion at large, the Windsor Process pages at etdiocese.net are meant to assemble the major resources and news reports to assist East Tennessee Episcopalians as they follow and interpret the controversies.

Supplemental resources list includes books, study guides, links to downloadable materials and more.

Four "Instruments of Communion" guide relationships among the Anglican Communion's member provinces. They are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops and the Primates' Meeting. Information about each is available through links from the main Web page of the Anglican Communion.

Membership in the Anglican Communion is a matter determined by each province's direct formal relationship with the See of Canterbury. The Episcopal Church is among 38 member provinces of the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members in 164 countries.

At its General Convention in 2003, the Episcopal Church gave its consent to the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson is an openly gay man in a long-term committed relationship with another man. The General Convention also recognized "that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions," and it committed the church to continued study and discernment on the issue, including the compilation of existing resources by a special commission.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, in response to uproar in other Provinces over these actions and decisions of other Provincial members on similar matters, appointed a Lambeth Commission on Communion. This 17-member international panel was to explore the nature of communion and look specifically at how interrelationships are maintained amid differing views and practices among Anglicans, including varied understandings of human sexuality. The Commission released the final report of its work, the Windsor Report, on Oct. 18, 2004.

At its General Convention in 2006, the Episcopal Church House of Bishops elected the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, bishop of Nevada, as presiding bishop. Many Anglican provinces do not ordain women, and TEC is the first to elect one as a Primate. Also controversial in some circles are the presiding bishop's viewpoints, such as her support of full inclusion.

The Anglican Communion's member churches continue the process of receiving and responding to the Windsor Report; considering whether they can support an Anglican Covenant, and if so, in what form; and evaluating to what degree their differences should have impact on the Communion as a whole.

Discernment and Response
Reverse Chronological Highlights

The Global Anglican Future Conference, June 29: A statement was released at the conclusion of GAFcon's meeting in Jerusalem. More than 1,000 conservative Anglicans, including 280 bishops, participated in the gathering.

Communion Partners, June 3: The informal group of bishops and clergy that formed to look closely at Anglican relationships expands to provide 'relational fellowship'

House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson, June 1: places Lambeth in context at an event for religion writers held in Alexandria, Va.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, May 12: Sends a letter to bishops of the Anglican Communion. He describes the design of the upcoming Lambeth Conference, and discusses his intentions for the time the bishops will spend together.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, April 30: Wrote to the House of Bishops to clarify process for certain current issues and responsibilities before the House.

Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission, March 11: Assigned to explore whether the nature of the communion that Anglicans share is sufficient to hold them together during times of conflict, the third such commission releases its report, "Communion, Conflict and Hope."

Executive Council, Feb. 14: The International Concerns Committee, a task force of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, releases a study guide to assist Episcopalians in their consideration of the St. Andrew's Draft.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Feb. 12: As proposed in his 2007 Advent letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury appoints a Windsor Continuation Group to continue coordination internationally of questions about and responses to the 2004 Windsor Report.

The Covenant Design Group, Feb. 6: An international team appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, releases the St. Andrew's Draft, the second draft for an Anglican Covenant.

Sources: Episcopal News Service, the Episcopal Church, Anglican Communion News Service, the Anglican Communion

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