Personal Comments on the Windsor Report, 2004

Steve Townsend

 

  1. I respond favourably to the findings and recommendations of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, and urge that that the Scottish Episcopal Church, along with the wider Anglican Communion, should accept and endorse the 2004 Windsor Report.

  2. I welcome the clear call given in the Report for a reaffirmation of scripture as being the Church’s supreme authority, and an essential ‘focus and means of unity’ (§53). Jesus himself taught in the parable of the wise and foolish builders that without this foundation no structure will survive (Matt 7:24-27). The current crisis facing the Anglican Communion threatens to fragment it, but with a serious commitment by all to ‘re-evaluate the ways in which we have read, heard, studied and digested scripture’ (§61) such disaster can be averted.

  3. I am encouraged by the wise manner in which the Report deals with the question of diversity within the Church. It is clearly the issue of the acceptable limits to diversity that is the crux of the present crisis. The Report rightly enjoins us to follow scriptural principles when exploring these limits, but also emphasises that where there are clear differences of opinion it is incumbent on those who claim the greater freedom (the “strong”) to defer to those who do not have the same understanding (the “weak”) even though this may impose a restriction on lifestyle (§90-93).

  4. On the matter of resolving the present crisis, I fully support the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission. The report has skilfully separated the actions that have threatened the unity of the Anglican Communion from the underlying theological issues regarding human sexuality, and has demonstrated that, regardless of the future outcome of the human sexuality debate, very grievous and injurious actions have taken place that urgently require to be repented of and forgiven in a Christlike manner. In view of the strength of the Commission’s conclusions, I am surprised that the Report did not (1) issue a more explicit call to repentance to those who have caused damage to the Communion, and (2) call on Gene Robinson to resign as Bishop of New Hampshire. Nevertheless, I respect the position they have taken and support their recommendations.

  5. With regard to the proposal to enhance the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury as an Instrument of Unity, I support the view that there is a need for an office to ‘articulate the mind of the Communion’ and to ‘speak directly to any provincial situation on behalf of the Communion’ (§109). It is likely that such an office would increase in authority over time, and it would clearly be essential for the office holder to be held in esteem within the Communion and recognised as representative outside the Communion. It seems to me that the necessary authority could not be sustained unless all provinces were involved in making the appointment to this office. It is difficult to see how this role could be realistically performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury without radical revision to the method of appointment.

  6. I support the recommendation for the adoption of a common Anglican Covenant. I believe the focus of this covenant should be on a commitment to the bonds of communion, firstly to the authority of scripture and secondly to those other bonds that mark us out as particularly Anglican. As such it might be better named an ‘Anglican Commitment to Communion’. I do not support the wording of the draft Covenant as provided in Appendix Two of the report. This reads too much like a legal document, and is far too long. What is required is something closer to the simplicity and length of a creed, that ordinary Christians can read and reflect upon, and that can be used from time to time in public worship.

  7. Finally, I note with sadness, but with complete agreement, the observation in the final paragraph of the report, that ‘should the call to halt and find ways of continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart’ (§157). This Report describes a way forward for a strengthened, more united worldwide Anglican Communion, that will be more effective in God’s hand in bringing the blessings of Christ’s kingdom to this needy world. I hope and pray that each province will seize the opportunity set before us to endorse the Report and implement its recommendations. But any who cannot agree to walk together must, by definition, decide to walk apart, and I believe this would inevitably result in the fragmentation of the Communion.

 

15th January 2005

Copyright © 2005 S P Townsend

Copyright © S P Townsend