Evangelicals Release Strict Reconciliatory Report Ahead of Synod Meeting

The conservative evangelical group, Anglican Mainstream have released a briefing paper on the Church of England’s General Synod on 4th February 2005. The briefing paper discussed the topics that will be raised by the Primates when they meet later this month, and could to a large degree decide the future direction of the Anglican Communion.

At the core of discussions will be whether and how the Anglicans can reconcile and whether they can continue the history of their Communion in unity or whether a schism is likely to occur as a result of the furore caused by events in New Hampshire and New Westminster regarding gay clergy views.

The briefing paper laid down two main questions that will be contemplated at the gathering:

1) Given that the Communion tolerates considerable diversity over a range of different issues, why are issues of human sexuality now seen as breaching the principles of autonomy-in-communion set out in the Windsor Report?

2) Why cannot incompatible practices on blessing same-sex unions (and ordaining and consecrating those in such unions) be embraced within the permitted range of Anglican tolerance?

In response to the underlying questions, Anglican Mainstream released six strong points for consideration by all Anglicans.

The first point commented that scripture did not expressly support further marriage after divorce, and went on to describe 1 Corinthians 6 where Apostle Paul gives a stark warning that those who practice homosexual behaviour will be excluded from the Kingdom of God.

The release went on to comment that this "biblical link with salvation explains why this issue is so important and why there is no recognised precedent in Christian tradition for treating a non-marital sexual relationship as good, holy and to be commended."

It continued, "Recent actions in North America appear to rely on the view that, in relation to sexual ethics, ‘compatibility with Scripture is not the only consideration’. In response to this view the House of Bishops within the Church of England has clearly stated: ‘it would be very difficult to see how this would be compatible with the affirmations of the authority of the Bible that have been a consistent feature of the Anglican tradition and the Anglican formularies, and it would mean that the Church of England had departed in this respect from the orthodox Christian tradition.’"

Secondly, the Christian mission was discussed, and the effect of the homosexual debates within the Communion on this area of Anglicanism has received great concerns from evangelicals across the world.

"The damage to Christian mission is most immediately evident in non-Western contexts. There, unless they rapidly distance themselves from such innovations, Anglicans risk increased persecution, ridicule and accusations of being agents of Western decadence."

The report also raised Mainstream’s worry that recent liberal views towards homosexuality in the Church have removed one of the core definitions of the Communion and taken away much of its identity.

"The recent official authorisations of innovations in relation to human sexuality reduce the definition of Anglican core identity and practice to merely one of celebrating plurality, diversity and inclusivity. That approach is incompatible with Anglican core identity, which extends beyond mere inclusivity to matters of theological substance."

It continued, "The Lambeth Conference overwhelmingly declared homosexual practice as ‘incompatible with Scripture’. It has also consistently upheld marriage between a man and a woman as the only proper context for sexual union. This is not just the mind of bishops or of historic Christianity. It is the clear sensus fidelium both within Anglicanism and the wider church. The Windsor Report says: ‘The overwhelming response from other Christians both inside and outside the Anglican family has been to regard these developments as departures from genuine, apostolic Christian faith’."

In the final point of the report, Anglican Mainstream spoke with strictness against those that had carried out the actions which have brought the Communion onto the brink of a schism.

"As the Letter from the Lambeth Primates’ Meeting indicated, it was ECUSA and New Westminster who unilaterally disregarded the mind of the Communion. They did so, not just by their opinions, but by their action - ignoring the proper means of discernment in communion. If they now also refuse to heed the urgent appeals of The Windsor Report, it will be clear that they are determined to ‘walk apart’ and are refusing to walk the ‘path of reconciliation’."

The report concluded by reaching out to the ECUSA and New Westminster to repent and for the whole worldwide Communion to reconcile.

"The cumulative effect of all these factors means that although the church must continue to wrestle with issues of sexuality and live with legitimate differences of opinion among its members and leaders, recent official actions in North America must be seen as beyond the limits of acceptable diversity within the life of the Anglican Communion. Rather, in terms of both process and content, they are corrosive of that life in communion. They destroy the calling to interdependence and mutual discernment which lies at the heart of life together in Communion, undermine the truth which is the source of that communion life and the mission which is its goal.

"These concerns are held not only by the vast majority of the members of the Anglican Communion worldwide (in that twenty-two provinces have declared themselves to be in "impaired Communion" with ECUSA and New Westminster); they are also held by a very significant number of parishes and clergy within the Church of England itself. That is why it is vital that ECUSA and New Westminster embrace the path of repentance and reconciliation by laid out in the Windsor Report by implementing its recommendations."