Lambeth Commission on Communion
The Lambeth Commission on Communion was a commission within the Anglican Church that was convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in October 2003 and met during the following year. Its aim was to examine the foundations and consequences of disagreements on the issues of homosexuality and episcopal oversight , and to make practical recommendations on how to maintain the highest possible degree of church fellowship in order to prevent an impending division of the church . The background to the falling out was developments in the Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada and the negative reactions of other Anglican churches to them. While the two North American churches strived for equal participation of lesbians and gays in the sacramental acts of the church, conservative members of these churches, as well as other member churches of the Anglican communion, reacted negatively to these innovations in sacramental theology with regard to marriage and ordination , and in some cases took over Oversight functions beyond their geographical area of responsibility. Thus there was a crisis in the Anglican church fellowship. The result of the Commission's deliberations in the course of 2004 was the Windsor Report , published in October 2004 .
prehistory
The Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster decided in June 2002 to allow public blessings for same-sex couples .
On June 7, 2003, Gene Robinson , who openly lives in a same-sex relationship, was elected bishop by the Episcopal General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the USA .
Both led to strong protests within the Anglican church fellowship, both from conservatives from the North American churches and from conservative churches from the Anglican church fellowship. Conservative congregations and dioceses in North America turned to conservative Anglican churches to get supervision from them , which is against the rules of the Anglican church fellowship.
In October 2003 the Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting met at Lambeth Palace to discuss the acute crisis. In a statement, they said the decisions made by the Diocese of New Westminster and the Episcopal Church threatened the unity of the Anglican communion as well as relations with other churches and religions. They reaffirmed the 1989 Lambeth Conference resolutions on human sexuality and made it clear that the decisions of the North American churches did not alter the teaching of the Anglican communion as a whole on these points and that they threatened the sacramental communion and future of Anglican Communion. In particular, after the consecration of Gene Robinson, the service of a bishop would not be recognized by most of the Anglican world, which could lead to further divisions. Therefore, the commission asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to set up a commission to deal with these dangers to the Anglican church fellowship and their theological and legal implications.
mandate
The Lambeth Commission was established in October 2003 and was mandated by the Archbishop of Canterbury :
- To examine the legal and theological implications of the decisions of the American Episcopal Church and the Diocese of New Westminster, specifically also with regard to the canonical understanding of church fellowship, restricted and broken church fellowship, and the ways in which the provinces of the Anglican church fellowship can relate to one another in situations where the ecclesiastical authorities of one province are unable to maintain full communion with any other part of the Anglican communion.
- Include practical recommendations in the report to maintain the highest possible degree of ecclesiastical fellowship under the circumstances of these decisions, both within and among churches of the Anglican Communion, particularly with regard to episcopal oversight of Anglicans within a given jurisdiction, when full communion with a province is threatened.
- to consider in their deliberations both the work that the Lambeth Conferences of 1988 and 1998 had already done on these issues and the views expressed by the primates of the Anglican community in the communiques and pastoral letters of their meetings since 2000.
Members
The members of the Lambeth Commission on Communion were:
- Robin Eames , Primate of the Church of Ireland as President
- Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, leader of Faith, Worship and Ministry Anglican Church of Canada
- Norman Doe , Director of the Center for Law and Religion , Cardiff University , Wales
- Mark Dyer , Bishop, Spiritual Formation Leader , Virginia Theological Seminary , USA
- Drexel Gomez , Primate of the Church of the Province of the West Indies
- Josiah Iduwo-Fearon , Archbishop of Kaduna , Church of Nigeria
- Dorothy Lau, director of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council
- Anne McGavin, attorney, former advisor to the episcopal quorum of the Scottish Episcopal Church
- Bernard Malango , Primate of the Church of the Province of Central Africa
- Esther Mombo, Dean of St Paul's United Theological Seminary, Limuru , Kenya
- Barry Morgan , Primate of the Church in Wales
- Rubie Nottage, Chancellor of the Church of the Province of the West Indies
- Bishop John Paterson of Auckland and Chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council
- Jenny Te Paa, Director of the College of Saint John the Evangelist, Auckland , New Zealand
- Bishop James Terom , Church of North India
- Bishop N Thomas Wright of Durham , Church of England
job
The Lambeth Commission held three plenary sessions:
- from 9th to 13th February 2004 in Windsor , England
- June 14-18 , 2004 in Hendersonville , North Carolina
- September 6-10, 2004 in Windsor, England
There were numerous submissions to the commission from individuals and groups, from all directions affected by the conflict, containing complaints and suggestions.
In October 2004 the Windsor Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury appeared, containing the results of the work of the Lambeth Commission.
The Windsor Report does not go into the theological problems of homosexuality, but only examines the case in terms of its implications for the Anglican communion. He explains on the one hand that by installing Gene Robinson, ECUSA has caused a great nuisance among many faithful Anglican Christians in their own church and in other parts of the church fellowship. The unilateral action of the Diocese of New Westminster was a violation of the legitimate application of the Christian faith of the Anglican churches and against the bonds of affection in church fellowship and the principle of interdependence. On the other hand, the commission also takes the view that the primates and bishops who have taken rights in foreign dioceses or provinces should have acted differently.