Anglican Head Writes to Leaders on Direction of the Church
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams wrote a letter to Anglican leaders on Friday addressing the "uncertainties" and "explorations" within the Communion as the church has yet to draw a resolution on homosexuality.
Williams offered prayers especially for the lay people, or "ordinary people of God," in the Episcopal Church and the wider worldwide denomination who are "puzzled, wearied, or disoriented by [their] present controversies."
"So many say they simply do not want to take up an extreme or divisive position and want to be faithful to Scripture and the common life," he wrote in the letter. "They want to preserve an Anglican identity that they treasure and love passionately but face continuing uncertainty about its future."
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The letter was written days after Episcopal leaders met in New York for a closed meeting in efforts to agree on a resolution over the homosexual divide. No consensus was made, but leaders have expressed hope as conversations were candid with participating leaders open to hearing all sides on the issue.
Laity, however, were absent from the meeting. House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson had noted that no laity or clergy, some who have no intention of separating themselves from the Episcopal Church, were represented at the meeting.
And while they may want to preserve an "Anglican identity," Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the conservative Anglican Communion Network, pointed to a clear "chasm" in the worldwide body where two distinct groups – conservatives and liberals – believe they are and claim to be the Episcopal Church.
Williams reminded the presiding bishops and Anglican Communion's Primates of the "process currently going forward in the Communion to help all of [them] weigh and interpret" the General Convention's work.
At the 75th Episcopal General Convention in June, Episcopalians voted on a resolution that asks church leaders to "exercise restraint" when consecrating homosexuals. The resolution had relieved some who desired to stay in the communion while disappointing others who sought stronger language.
As Anglican leaders prepare for the next Primates' Meetings next February in Tanzania, Williams offered some indication of the direction of his and his advisory group's initial thinking.
"It is clear that the Communion as a whole remains committed to the teaching on human sexuality expressed in Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, and also that the recommendations of the Windsor Report have been widely accepted as a basis for any progress in resolving the tensions that trouble us. As a Communion, we need to move forward on the basis of this twofold recognition.
"It is also clear that the Episcopal Church has taken very seriously the recommendations of the Windsor Report; but the resolutions of General Convention still represent what can only be called a mixed response to the Dromantine requests. The advisory group has spent much time in examining these resolutions in great detail, and its sense is that although some aspects of these requests have been fully dealt with, there remain some that have not. This obviously poses some very challenging questions for our February meeting and its discernment of the best way forward."
Mentioning the request by seven conservative dioceses for "alternative primatial oversight," or a new overseer, Williams said, "We have to acknowledge that we are entering uncharted waters for the Communion, with a number of large issues about provincial identity and autonomy raised for all of us."
As more discussions will continue after the most recent meeting that resulted in no agreement, he added, "I continue to hope that colleagues will not take it for granted that there is a rapid short-term solution that will remove our problems or simplify our relationships for good and all without the essential element of personal, probing conversation."
After conversations were held this week, Episcopal leaders have acknowledged the difficulties in the church and hope to hold another meeting to resolve the divide.
