The Latest Draft

Here's the latest draft of "Reflections upon the Lambeth Conference 2008" just released to the bishops. It incorporates revised content from the indaba group discussion on homosexuality. We're reading it carefully now.

Check out sections 90 thru 105 on pages 26-30.

The Bishop and Human Sexuality

The first draft summary of yesterday's indaba group discussions on homosexuality are available here as a PDF. This draft was discussed by all the bishops yesterday afternoon. We're told that the first draft does not fully reflect the voices of bishops who have positively experienced the lives and ministries of LGBT Anglicans, and that the Bishop of Dublin spoke eloquently on our behalf. A second draft will be released and discussed at 5 pm BST today.

A Roman perspective on things Anglican

Found this report in "America: The National Catholic Weekly" of interest:

Disagreements do not necessarily lead to divisions or crises. The real question is why the Anglican Church has not been able to contain the disagreements, and why they are causing the church to tear itself apart.

The current crisis is not, in other words, doctrinal; it is ecclesiological. As the center of Anglicanism has moved away from the Church of England to the global communion, the glue that has held the Church of England together has been exposed as inadequate for binding the Anglican Churches worldwide.

It seems to me that this is the question still to be answered by this Lambeth Conference.

The Lambeth Witness #11

The Saturday edition of The Lambeth Witness is now available here as a PDF. Don't miss the tongue-in-check photo of some of the "hundreds of gay and lesbian activists" whom the Rt. Rev. Mouneer Anis of Egypt says have been chasing bishops thru Lambeth.

Error Messages

A number of blogs on the Blogger platform--not just Walking With Integrity--appear to be experiencing technical problems this morning. If you get an error message, please try again later.

Lambeth Podcasts

Tom Jackson of Oasis California has started posting some podcasts from the Lambeth Conference at http://episcopod.com .  So far there is...  

• Lambeth One: Windsor Press Conference  | In this first episode of Lambeth coverage, Tom Jackson has recorded the entire press conference held by the Windsor continuation group. Although we have edited out some of the more process oriented bits, the Q & A from reporters is intact and worth hearing.
• Two bishops reflect on Lambeth | Tom Jackson speaks to Bishop Suffragan Dena Harrison of Texas and Bishop Henry Parsley of Alabama about whether gay and lesbian persons can have hope in the Church.
• More with Bishop Clive | Tom Jackson reports on further details presented by the chair of the Windsor Continuation Group, Bishop Clive Handford. Note: we'll have a loger interview with Bishop Clive later in August.

"No idea" consecration of gay bishop would cause such a stir

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a c c w e b n e w s
The Anglican Church of Canada
http://www.anglican.ca/
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"No idea" consecration of gay bishop would cause such a stir 'Reflections'
document captures various emotions

Marites N. Sison
Staff writer

Canterbury, England
Some bishops of The Episcopal Church in the U.S. have apologized to bishops
with more conservative views on homosexuality, saying they had "no idea"
that their church's consecration of a gay bishop in the diocese of New
Hampshire "had caused such a negative impact in many parts of the
Communion."

The apologies were extended on Thursday in some groups called indaba (from
the Zulu word for 'purposeful communication'), when bishops discussed the
issue of human sexuality, an issue which has caused bitter conflict among
Anglicans worldwide.

The draft document on the conference's reflections also said that "although
there has been a great appreciation of one to one conversation, there is the
need to develop further trust in the relationships that have started here."

The draft document, copies of which were released to the media, contains
diverse views on sexuality and how best to handle the differences that have
driven Anglicans apart.

To read the rest of the story, please visit the Anglican Journal Website,
http://www.anglicanjournal.com

Sexuality Discussions Bring Lambeth Bishops To Frank Conversation

By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service, Canterbury] Conversation marked by tears and
apologies, hand holding and embracing, was the order of the day July 31 as
bishops attending the Lambeth Conference formally addressed a portion of the
Anglican Communion's debate on human sexuality.

The pervading sense was that the mood at the current conference was
"dramatically different" from the tone of sexuality discussions at the 1998
Lambeth Conference during which "people were distressed at some of the
reactions to some of the things that were said," said Archbishop Phillip
Aspinall of Brisbane (http://www.anglicanbrisbane.org.au
<http://www.anglicanbrisbane.org.au/> ), the primate of Australia and
principal spokesman for the bishops. He recalled that in 1998 "there were
occasions when bishops actually booed and hissed what other bishops said in
the gathering."

Aspinall said that his indaba group (a collection of 40 bishops from five
Bible study groups who have been meeting together since the beginning of the
conference) contained the "same degree of difference in the views held by
the bishops but at the end of the indaba group, bishops from different ends
of the spectrum on the issues actually embraced each other and thanked each
other for helping them understand better what was at stake in these issues."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_99622_ENG_HTM.htm

Gay US Bishop Says Church Will Regret Excluding Homosexuals

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a c c w e b n e w s
The Anglican Church of Canada
http://www.anglican.ca/
===================================

STEPHEN BROWN
ECUMENICAL NEWS INTERNATIONAL

Jul 31, 2008

Canterbury, England
V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay U.S. bishop whose consecration in
2003 polarised the worldwide Anglican Communion, says he believes that one
day the Church will regret its rejection of homosexuals the way that it now
regrets its support in the past for slavery.

"We believed in slavery for 18 and a half centuries before we came to know
God's will for us with respect to people of colour," Robinson told
Ecumenical News International on the campus of the University of Kent in
Canterbury, England, where about 650 Anglican bishops from around the world
are meeting for the 16 July to 3 August Lambeth Conference.

Robinson was not invited to be an official delegate to the once-
every-10-years gathering. An Anglican Communion official said this was
because of the "widespread objections" within the 77-million-strong grouping
to Robinson's consecration as a bishop.

To read the rest of the story, please visit the Anglican Journal Website,
http://www.anglicanjournal.com

The Church Cannot Heal This Crisis Of Betrayal

Archbishop Orombi of Uganda has an op-ed piece in The Times this morning explaining why he boycotted the Lambeth Conference.

The Lambeth Witness #10

The Friday issue of The Lambeth Witness is now available here as a PDF. It includes an article by Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, on the Anglican Covenant.

guardian.co.uk: Today's "Comment is free" column

I appreciated the invitation to write this piece for the Guardian yesterday. Remembering that the "recommendations" of the Windsor Continuation Group are only that ... recommendations ... we remember as well that the Windsor Report quickly morphed, in the minds of some, into the Windsor Edict.

The work the bishops are doing here at Lambeth Conference is, I believe, bearing genuine fruit of respect for difference and commitment to walk together -- over the objections of the schismatic minority still lobbying for "resolution." Our job is to keep reminding all of them of their high calling as bishops in the church of God to pastor all the people ... not just some of them.

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A flock abandoned -- Susan Russell
guardian.co.uk, Thursday July 31 2008

It would be a sinful thing if Anglican church leaders walked away from the gay and lesbian baptised

As the Lambeth conference proceeds in Canterbury, gay and lesbian Anglicans find themselves, once again, on the communion chopping block. It is a sad thing indeed that the message sent out from the Anglican communion to the world is that homosexuals getting married in California are of more concern to the church than are homosexuals being mugged in Nigeria. It is an even sadder thing that bishops who have taken vows to be shepherds to their whole flock seem willing to consider sacrificing their gay and lesbian followers at the altar of institutional unity.

We recognise that the Anglican communion is involved in a long-term process of discernment and dialogue on issues of human sexuality and we are committed to being part of that process. Sadly, what the Windsor Continuation Group furthered in its report released on July 28 was the process of institutionalising bigotry and marginalising the gay and lesbian baptised. Acceptance of these recommendations would be totally antithetical to the core message of the Christian gospel.

The American and Canadian churches have never maintained that they hold anything other than a minority opinion on the full inclusion of the gay and lesbian baptised in the life and witness of the church. "Blessed are you who have complied with the will of the majority to exclude the minority" is to be found nowhere in the Bible. Rather, the gospel of Jesus is one of love, inclusion and "doing unto the least of these."

The Windsor Continuation Group has presented the bishops with nothing less than a "Sophie's choice" – telling them to choose between walking with brother and sister Anglicans who disagree with them on issues of human sexuality or walking with their brother and sister Anglicans who happen to be gay or lesbian.

It is time for the bishops to step up and say that gay and lesbian Anglicans are not for sale as bargaining chips in this game of global church politics – that the sacrifice of their lives and vocations in this church is too high a price to pay for institutional unity.

For at the end of the day, there is an ontological difference between feeling excluded because you're disagreed with and being excluded because of who you are. Brother and sister Anglicans walking away from the table because they've been disagreed with is a painful thing. The church walking away from the gay and lesbian baptised is a sinful thing.

Indaba On Human Sexuality

The Lambeth Conference

Daily Account: Thursday, July 31, 2008

Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles

Bishop Chilton Knudsen of Maine

Bishop Michael G. Smith of North Dakota

 

The topic for today was The Bishop and human sexuality. We had been informed by the Archbishop of Canterbury that Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10 would not be revisited in our discussions because it continues to be the accepted teaching of the vast majority of the Anglican Communion.

 

The Bible Study focused on John 13: 31- 14:  " I am the way, and the truth, and the life. " 

 

The Bible Study groups appear to have bonded together and we have appreciated the opportunity for sharing. The Bible Study groups are greatly diverse and we have developed a sense of trust and love in each other.

 

We saw a video and then entered into our Indaba group.  The video focused on concerns that people share around the globe and we were able to express our feelings freely. Many, however, noticed that in the video, there was no indication of the speaker’s sexual orientation.

 

In the Indaba groups, we are being the people of God, who love others in the name of our Lord.  We are about building bridges.

 

In many groups, the issues of sexuality have been discussed, and as a result we experienced much honest listening.  Throughout the discussions, it was clear that the respect and dignity of all people must be honored.

 

In the afternoon, a hearing was conducted on the Lambeth reflections.

 

Also available on EpiScope http://episcopalchurch.typepad.com/episcope/

See Episcopal Life Online for full coverage and video: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife/

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The Bishop and the Book

Posted this afternoon on The Gene Pool, the Bishop of New Hampshire reflects on biblical interpretation...