Anglican Report Avoids Schism, Snubs Conservatives

By Lillian Kwon, Christian Post Reporter Friday, February 16, 2007

There has been no talk of schism at the global Anglican meeting at all, said one of the archbishops.

Rather, after its first day, the critical meeting that many predicted to be a make-or-break time avoided a split and has been described as one of "patience, graciousness, care and respect," said Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Australia, according to the Episcopal News Service.

Before addressing other global issues, Anglican primates from 35 provinces on Thursday went into sessions on the Episcopal Church and its response to the 2004 Windsor Report, which called for a moratorium on consecrating homosexuals and blessing same-sex unions.

The long-awaited response from U.S. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was revealed in a report by the Anglican Communion sub-group, headed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans. According to the report, the Episcopal Church expressed "regret for straining the bonds of affection in the events surrounding the General Convention of 2003 and the consequences which followed." The 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop was at the height of the controversy, causing divisions within the Anglican Communion.

It went on to say that the Episcopal Church offers its "sincerest apology" to those offended and "ask[s] forgiveness."

With the impression that the Episcopal Church vows not to repeat the offense, the sub-group stated that the U.S. body's expression of regret is "sufficient" to meet the request of the primates.

Although opinions within the Episcopal Church vary widely, particularly on the issue of homosexuality, and conservative Anglicans within the United States as well as from the Global South had proposed for a separate orthodox Anglican body, the worldwide Anglican denomination indicated a continued communion with the Episcopal Church.

The report was not welcomed by some U.S. conservatives with some noting the report's vagueness and that the world’s third largest Christian denomination is once again "hanging by a thread."

Dr. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian of South Carolina commented, "It's a really poor report. It is shocking that a report like this could have been written at this stage. It's way too soft," according to U.K.-based Guardian Unlimited.

While "too soft" to some, the report also reaffirmed Lambeth Resolution 1.10 which states that homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture and that the Communion cannot advise the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of those involved in homosexual unions.

The Rev. Canon David Anderson, president and CEO of the American Anglican Council released a statement opposing the report. "This report gives a ‘best-case scenario’ picture of TEC (The Episcopal Church) that is not only skewed in favor of TEC but quite simply fails to reflect the reality of life in the Episcopal Church."

While controversy over the issue of homosexuality is largely what has pushed conservative Anglicans to distance themselves from the U.S. church body, Anderson stressed that the problem goes deeper to scriptural authority.

"The crisis in TEC goes to the very core of Christian beliefs," he said, "and many of the primates have already recognized that sexuality is only a symptom of those deeper issues, including biblical authority and the nature of who Jesus is.”

In recent interviews, Jefferts Schori had questioned Jesus being the only way to God.

A response from the 35 Primates gathered at the meeting and their decision on the Episcopal Church's status in the Anglican Communion are expected before the meeting ends on Feb. 19. Dissident Episcopalians also await a response on their requests for alternative primatial oversight, which would grant them a new overseer from another country.