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"But It Shall Not Be So Among You": Some Reflections Towards the Reception of the Windsor Report within ECUSA

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Grieb, A Katherine

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The perception of North American arrogance is complicated by ECUSA's failure to consult widely enough and to signal clearly enough its nearly-thirty-years-long conversations predictably moving towards the actions it finally took. It is perhaps also the case that for some of that time the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Anglican leaders found the issue so distasteful that serious discussion of it was not allowed. Even when the issue was discussed at the Communion level, some of the primates returned home to provinces where the death penalty is imposed on anyone with same-sex affections, limiting frank discussion of an already difficult issue. For whatever reasons, one result of not engaging this controversial issue was that in some parts of the Anglican Communion, the people had no word for same-sex relationships, did not believe there was such a thing, or believed that ECUSA had invented it a few months before the consecration of Bishop Robinson. Perhaps this is the most important difference between this issue and the way the question of women's ordination was handled. Because there had been extensive anticipatory conversations about the possibility of some provinces ordaining women to the episcopate, primates were not surprised. There had already been agreements to disagree and assurances that women bishops would not be imposed on unwilling provinces, agreements that stand fast today. Though there were fears of potential schism, there was also more time to get used to the idea because of the conversations that had occurred. Provinces without ordained women could learn from the experiences of those, like Hong Kong, that had already ordained them.

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The biblical question of whether or not Israel should become like the other nations (in having a king) raised above is also relevant. ECUSAs polity means that the Presiding Bishop functions less like the tribal chief who is never to be questioned and more like the moderator of an endless debate. Other provinces of the Anglican Communion are more likely to expect that a bishop will simply impose his own will upon his subjects. No wonder it looks like a breach of episcopal collegiality when a bishop apparently fails to hold the line. In some provinces where Christianity is assailed by forms of militant Islam, the working definition of "holiness" for the province may in fact be set by the context and not by the independent thinking of the Anglican bishop and people. Unless there is a clear agreement with such provinces to agree to disagree, similar to that involving the ordination of women, the actions of ECUSA may seem to compromise the witness or even the safety of Anglicans there. For some or all of these reasons, some parts of the Anglican Communion would find it especially difficult to hear the argument ECUSA was making-even if it had been stated clearly and consistently over a long period of time.

The Windsor Report's preferred language for the persuasive power exerted by members of the Anglican Communion upon one another is "moral authority" (for example, para. 18, 105, 115, and Appendix One, para. 3). For example, principles about "discernment in communion and inter-Anglican relations, enunciated at global level by the Instruments of Unity, have persuasive moral authority for individual churches; they do not have enforceable juridical authority" (para. 115). Classic Anglicanism persuades through compelling arguments that are expected to be matched by careful attention and serious reflection on the part of those to whom the appeals are directed. In my mind, therefore, the most distressing language in the Report occurs in paragraph 141: "Whilst proponents of actions in the Diocese of New Westminster and the Episcopal Church (USA) may argue that such advice has only moral authority. . ." (emphasis mine).

"But It Shall Not Be So Among You": Some Reflections Towards the Reception of the Windsor Report within ECUSA

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Grieb, A Katherine

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