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Thoughts on the Windsor Report: What Went Wrong?
Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Zahl, Paul F M
My point is: Can we expect a lasting solution to an extremely important and damaging problem if we are unwilling from the starting gate to go into the "thorny wood" of the problem itself? I don't think so. Or rather, I cannot see how. Can you? Is there anything like intellectual honesty in a process that never goes to the root of the problem? Whether you are "conservative" or "liberal" on the subject itself, whether you are Gene Robinson or Peter Akinola, what hope is there of some authentic reconciliation if the chief point of difference is not brought out into the open? I feel almost certain that most members of the gay community would agree with this. We have got to look at this with a genuinely open heart and Bible and church. It is just possible that something in the way of reconciliation can and could happen.
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Did Luther wish to discuss matters of "communion" with Cardinal Cajetan? No. All Luther asked for was a forum to discuss the gospel issues on his mind. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, kept trying to pole-vault over the arguments themselves by simply asking Luther whether he had written the books that were published with his name. Luther replied, to his great credit: "Tell me where I am wrong in terms of the Scriptures. Go with me into the place of contention. Walk with me, and disagree with me, if you will, in terms of the ideas themselves." The church tried to silence Luther with process. The analogy is correct because the Reformers asked only one thing from their adversaries: the chance to discuss the core and not the subsidiary issues of Christianity.
The Windsor Report is a massive lost opportunity because it restricts its brief way too much.
Now, a closer look at the actual findings of the Report:
When I first read the Report of the Lambeth Commission, I was encouraged. Writing as a theological conservative, I was encouraged by the note of scriptural confidence and authority that is sounded in Section A. I was encouraged by the reliance on the Communion documents that have already spoken to the subject of homosexuality. In ECUSA context, I was encouraged by the strength of the invitationan enjoining, really-in Section D, that the Episcopal Church express its "regret" for having "breached the bonds of affection" that should characterize Christian communion on any account. I liked, as well, the similar enjoining concerning the blessing of same-sex unions. Like many others, I wished that a stronger verb had been used than "regret." Realizing that "repent" might sound overly strong to some ears, I could conceive of other expressions closer to the word we traditionalists wanted. Maybe "personal remorse" or "heartfelt sorrow."
Like most others of the so-called "orthodox," I was troubled by the last recommendation in section D concerning the care of dissenting minorities. It seemed to me that the Commission was backing the proposal concerning delegated episcopal pastoral oversight (DEPO) that the ECUSA House of Bishops had offered in March 2003. Many of us had felt chilly towards this proposal because it was conceived and prepared not by the "losers," or the ones who requested it and believe they really needed it, but rather by the "victors." Very little imput from the losers! Therefore the House of Bishops' proposal failed to gain the trust of the losing side, from which it would have to have originated in order to succeed in practice.
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