Dummies guide to crisis in the Communion

Webmaster | 2 July 2006

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Timeline

1990 The retired bishop of Iowa, Bishop Walter Righter, ordains Brian Stopfel, who was living in a gay relationship, in Newark, New Jersey.

1991 A motion at the US Episcopal Church’s General Convention to censure bishops who ordain gays is defeated.

1995 The US Episcopal Church is asked to discipline Bishop Righter for ordaining a gay priest Brian Stopfel. Dubbed by the media ‘a heresy trial’, a panel of liberal US bishops dismisses the case against Righter 7-1 defining core doctrine in terms of the ‘essence of Christianity’ which is ‘necessary for salvation’, concluding that Righter had not violated such ‘core’ doctrine.

1998 At the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops from around the world a resolution is passed stating that homosexual acts are ‘incompatible with Scripture’ by a vote of 526-70.

2000 Concerned at the way liberal bishops in North America are behaving, the Archbishops of two Anglican provinces, Rwanda and South-East Asia, consecrate missionary bishops for the United States and formally establish the Anglican Mission in America, which now oversees nearly 100 churches in North America.

2002 The Synod of New Westminster Diocese in Canada votes to allow same-sex blessing. Within the year the diocesan bishop, Michael Ingham, will announce a rite for blessing people in same-sex unions, and the first Anglican ‘gay marriages’ will take place in Vancouver. Ingham’s actions lead ine churches, including the diocese’s largest, St John’s, Shaughnessy, to declare they are ‘out of communion’ with their bishop.

2003 In August, the US Diocese of New Hampshire elects an openly gay priest, Gene Robinson as bishop.

2004 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, releases the Windsor Report. This report recommends a moratorium on further consecrations of actively homosexual bishops and blessings of same-sex unions.

2005 The Primates (national church leaders) of the Anglican Communion meeting in Dromantine, Northern Ireland turn the screws further on North American Anglicans, asking them to voluntarily withdraw from the Anglican Consultative Council, the main international entity within the Anglican Communion.

2006 New American Presiding Bishop (Primate) Katharine Jefferts Schori says homosexuality is not a sin.

SOME KEY PLAYERS
BY JEREMY HALCROW

CANADA

MICHAEL INGHAM

POSITION: Bishop of New Westminster (Canada)

CLAIM TO FAME: First Anglican bishop to endorse liturgy to bless homosexual unions.

QUOTE: “The diocese here has really approached this question primarily as a pastoral one, not as a doctrinal one. We do not see any doctrine of the church at stake here, certainly no central or core doctrine of the church. We’re really asking ourselves: how do we minister with the compassion of God to these people in our midst? They are given the choice, mostly by the church, of promiscuity or loneliness throughout their lives. Their denial of their loves and their relationships and their intimacies leaves most gay and lesbian people in an impossible position of Hobson’s Choice – between promiscuity or loneliness – and I think what we see ourselves doing here is a moral thing.”

DAVID SHORT

POSITION: Rector of St John’s, Shaughnessy

CLAIM TO FAME: Formerly from Sydney, his ministry is under great pressure after ‘breaking communion’ with his diocesan bishop Michael Ingham.

QUOTE: “[Same-sex unions] touches the gospel at the point of repentance. It reduces the gospel message to one of acceptance without transformation, of love without truth, and of Jesus being Saviour without being Lord… If the New Testament is right, there can be no genuine communion with those who advocate sin and reject the teachings of Christ. It is a nonsense to imagine things can continue without a major realignment within the global Communion. The blessing of same-sex unions is a symptom of two different religions, or two different and incompatible faiths under the umbrella of one denomination.”

UNITED KINGDOM

NT (TOM) WRIGHT

POSITION: Bishop of Durham

CLAIM TO FAME: A world-renowned scholar for challenging liberal claims about the historical Jesus, he played a key role in drafting the Windsor Report.

QUOTE: “ [The Windsor Report is] looking way ahead of current crises and we’re saying we’d like to set up and see a framework which will enable us to be faithful, wise Anglicans in communion with one another in 20 years’ time, in a way which will mean we don’t have to have this kind of crisis again. It’s hugely expensive getting all the people together and having all the extra meetings. What happened in New Westminster and New Hampshire has cost the Anglican Communion tens of thousands of pounds, which we could ill afford, when we’re all actually more interested in spending money on taking our mission forward, not in trying to sort out our own backyard.”

ROWAN WILLIAMS

POSITION: Archbishop of Canterbury

CLAIM TO FAME: Sometimes called the ‘symbolic’ head of the Anglican Communion. His reported liberal views regarding homosexuality prior to becoming Archbishop of Canterbury means he is not trusted by many evangelicals.

QUOTE: “Anything put forward within the church is one that is put forward for discernment, the discernment of the whole body as best as possible. So that I am not there to advance personal views or a private agenda. I am there to see what discernment the whole church comes to. If the whole church maintains its current discernment, well that is the church’s right, the church’s liberty.”

UNITED STATES

ROBERT DUNCAN

POSITION: Bishop of Pittsburgh

CLAIM TO FAME: Dubbed by the US media as the ‘spiritual leader of conservative Episcopalians’, his aim is to help evangelical Episcopalians remain in communion with the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide.

QUOTE: “The battle is about the authority of Scripture. It’s about the basics of Christian faith. It’s about sin and redemption. It’s just so fundamental. The issues have to do with sexuality and morality, but at the very heart of it is whether Scripture can be trusted. In my experience I learned the one person I could trust was Jesus Christ and the only testament that was reliable was what was in Scripture. And I cannot let the Church, of all bodies, challenge the notion that you can’t trust the plain meaning of Scripture.”

GENE ROBINSON

POSITION: Bishop of New Hampshire

CLAIM TO FAME: The world’s first Anglican bishop to be living in a homosexual relationship.

QUOTE: “Some of the folks who are arguing against this, particularly on biblical grounds, are trying to take us to a place, in terms of our own study of Scripture, that has never been our tradition. It’s the tradition of some other denominations, but it’s never been the Anglican tradition to take Scripture literally… Discerning God’s voice is a very tricky business. I’ve often said, you know, I’m trying to make sure that the voice in my head is not my own ego doing a great imitation of God’s voice. And I use a spiritual director to help me with that, to work on my prayer life. I spent a lot of time in prayer about this, but also, you can’t discern God’s voice by yourself. The discernment of God’s voice has to be in community.”

AFRICA

PETER AKINOLA

POSITION: Primate of Nigeria and Chairman, Council of the Anglican Provinces of Africa

CLAIM TO FAME: Head of the world’s largest Anglican Church and viewed as the leader of the conservatives.

QUOTE: “Everyone has sinned. Everyone needs to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. If people come to the church and do not hear the message of new life, then we have not fulfilled our responsibility… We are not being responsible or faithful if we say, ‘Let us bless your stealing. Let us bless your adultery.’ When the church in the West says, ‘We bless your homosexual union,’ they have failed people. We should love them better than that.”

HENRY OROMBI

POSITION: Archbishop of Uganda

CLAIM TO FAME: Has clearly articulated the implications of broken communion by making a major financial sacrifice and returning US Episcopal Church aid money.

QUOTE: “One of the hallmarks of the East African revival in the Church of Uganda is ‘walking in the light’. On 20th November 2003 the Church of Uganda broke communion with ECUSA until it repents of its actions in approving and consecrating as bishop a man in an actively homosexual relationship. Furthermore, we have taken the position that, as a result of broken communion, we will not take any financial gifts from ECUSA.... This state of broken communion saddens us because of the loss of relationships and partners, and we believe it also grieves the heart of God. We continue to pray that ECUSA will repent of its actions so healing can begin, reconciliation be pursued, and communion be restored.”

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