Personal Comments
on the Windsor Report, 2004
Steve Townsend
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
