Anglican leaders: same-sex unions, gay ordinations threaten church unity
ByJohn H. Adams, The Layman Online, March 31, 2000
By allowing pastors to bless same-sex unions and bishops to ordain practicing homosexuals, some dioceses “threaten the unity of the [worldwide Anglican] communion in a profound way,” international Anglican leaders say.
At the conclusion of their meeting March 22-29 in Portugal, the 38 Anglican primates issued a communique that says “it has caused very great concerns” that some dioceses have repudiated the ordination and marriage standards overwhelmingly adopted at a worldwide meeting of bishops in 1998.
Lambeth resolution
The 1998 document is called the Lambeth Resolution. At the time of its adoption, some bishops, primarily representatives of dioceses in the United States, disagreed sharply with the resolution’s marriage and ordination standards. One, John Shelby Spong of New Jersey, accused conservative Anglicans of plying Third World bishops with barbecue and hospitality to enlist their support for the standards.
But primates at the Portugal conference seemed intent to maintain the standards. “Such clear and public repudiation of those sections of the [Lambeth] Resolution related to the public blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of declared non-celibate homosexuals, and the declared intention of some dioceses to proceed with such actions, have come to threaten the unity of the communion in a profound way.
“We strongly urge such dioceses to weigh the effects of their actions, and to listen to the expressions of pain, anger and perplexity from other parts of the communion, where what may seem obvious and appropriate in one context may be harmful and unacceptable in another.”
Primates issue ‘a warning’
Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and a member of the Executive Committee of the American Anglican Council, said the primates have “given the American church an explicit warning against further divisive actions regarding sexuality and a clear call to address the pastoral needs of Episcopalians in radically liberal dioceses.”
Currently, the Episcopal Church (U.S.A.) has a local-option policy on ordaining practicing homosexuals and blessing same-sex unions, with each bishop making a decision for the diocese.
Knippers said the communique from Portugal “ought to set the agenda for our own bishops meeting in California next week, as well as our General Convention this summer.”
The Episcopal Church’s debate over ordination and same-sex unions parallels similar confrontations in other mainline denominations. For instance, during its General Assembly in Long Beach, Calif., in June, the Presbyterian Church (USA) will consider an overture calling for a ban on same-sex unions and another overture calling for deleting the constitutional standard requiring church officers to limit their sexual activity to marriage.
Evangelical strategy questioned
The Portugal communique also lamented a strategy by evangelicals to circumvent the oversight of Episcopal bishops who ordain practicing homosexuals and authorize same-sex unions. The evangelicals, by the authority of bishops from Rwanda and Singapore, recently consecrated two U.S. bishops so that they could serve parishes that were under the jurisdiction of liberal bishops.
The Portugal communique said, “… we noted with deep concern the recent consecrations in Singapore intended to provide extended episcopal oversight for Anglicans in the USA who, for various reasons, believe that their pastoral needs and theological commitments are not provided for by the Episcopal Church, and who consequently feel alienated from its life. Despite the strength and sincerity of these feelings, such action taken without appropriate consultation poses serious questions for the life of the communion.”
The primates did not seek to void the consecrations. Rather, they called for “rapprochement and reconciliation concerning any regularising of the status of the bishops consecrated in Singapore” through a discussion among the bishops of the three provinces involved – the United States, Rwanda and Singapore. If the matter came to a vote, evangelical bishops from Rwanda and Singapore would have a 2-1 edge.
Disappointment expressed
Knippers said the consecrations came about because many Episcopalians “reside in dioceses where their bishops deny that Holy Scriptures are the rule and standard of faith and deny basic tenets of the church’s creed. These believers are in an extraordinarily difficult position. They are clamoring for alternative oversight and will be understandably disappointed that the primates did not make immediate provision for them and their congregations.”
The Portugal communique reasserted the primates’ commitment to Scripture. They said that “in a session on the use and authority of the Bible, there was … unanimous witness to the unique role of Holy Scripture … and a shared acknowledgement of Scripture’s decisive authority in the life of our communion.”
They also “unanimously underlined the priority of evangelism,” especially a “‘holistic evangelism’ that looks to transform the whole person.”