The Report of the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, making recommendations about how General Convention 2006 should respond to the Windsor Report, is now out. All I’ve read so far is the executive summary (reproduced below), and my wife and I have a church-group commitment tonight, so it’ll be a little while before I can read more. For preliminary comments from the blogerati, see, e.g.:
- TitusOneNine (see also here)
- Drell’s Drescants
- Preludium (the Rev. Mark Harris was a member of the Special Commission)
- An Inch at a Time (the Rev. Susan Russell is president of Integrity, an organization of gay / lesbian Episcopalians).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY [Ed.: Bold-faced emphasis is mine]
S1. The Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion was constituted late in 2005 by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies to assist the 75th General Convention in considering recent developments in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion with a view to maintaining the highest degree of communion possible. The primary sources considered by the Special Commission were: The Windsor Report of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, the Communiqué of the Primates’ Meeting in Dromantine, Ireland, in February 2005, and the resolutions of the13th Meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham, England in June 2005.
S2. Our report is divided into six sections plus a brief conclusion, and eleven proposed resolutions for the 75th General Convention are offered. Appended to the report are key documents from the Anglican Communion, the House of Bishops, and the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church.
S3. Our report opens with an introduction (section I), setting the biblical and theological basis for our understanding of communion. Consistent with the Windsor Report, we draw upon Ephesians and 1 Corinthians in our discussion of the nature of communion. The introduction emphasizes that through Baptism we are sisters and brothers in Christ, brought together in Eucharistic fellowship, and united in service to God’s mission in the world.
S4. Section II presents a brief history of events in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion since the last General Convention. Aspects of the Windsor Report, the Primates’ Meeting in Dromantine, and the 13th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council are reviewed within the context of inter-Anglican developments. Responses by the House of Bishops and the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church are noted.
S5. Section III of the report presents a theological and ecclesiological discussion of the nature of interdependence in the Anglican Communion. Consistent with sections A and B of the Windsor Report, this section of our report emphasizes that the unity of the Church and its participation in God’s mission are inextricably linked.
S6. Section IV discusses expressions of regret and repentance by the Episcopal Church. In keeping with statements made by the House of Bishops, we recommend that the 75th General Convention express regret for the pain caused by our actions at the 74th General Convention and repent of times when we in the Episcopal Church have functioned as if we have no need of the other (1 Corinthians 12:21) in the Anglican Communion.
S7. Section V surveys five “invitations” to the Episcopal Church as ways by which we can live more fully into our common life in the Anglican Communion.
(i) On elections to the episcopate, we urge that very considerable caution be exercised in the nomination, election, consent to, and consecration of bishops whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.
(ii) While clarifying that the General Convention has not authorized public Rites of Blessing for same-sex unions, we concur with the Windsor Report and suggest that the Episcopal Church not proceed to authorize such rites at this time. At the same time, we acknowledge that it is necessary to maintain “a breadth of private response to situations of individual pastoral care” for gay and lesbian people.
(iii) We recognize that there is a need for pastoral care for those who might disagree with their diocesan bishop and thus commend “Caring for All the Churches” (Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight) to the General Convention.
(iv) We note that in the Anglican Communion there is a growing consensus around, and commitment to, the Millennium Development Goals that seek to eradicate extreme poverty and other life-denying realities in the world. We suggest that common service toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals witnesses to our unity in God’s mission in the Anglican Communion.
(v) Finally, we commend both the “Windsor Process” and the “Listening Process” in the Anglican Communion as ways by which greater mutual responsibility and interdependence may be realized.
S8. Section VI traces precedents of covenants in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a response to our unity in God’s mission. Three types of covenant possibilities now before the Anglican Communion are described, namely: canonical/structural, doctrinal/confessional, and missional/relational. We recommend that the Episcopal Church participate actively in the process leading up to the development of an Anglican Covenant.
S9. In conclusion, our report and recommendations are offered as a witness to our unity in the Body of Christ in the Anglican Communion and in service to our common call to God’s mission of reconciliation. The Special Commission’s proposed resolutions to the 75th General Convention follow the report, and are titled: Commitment to Interdependence in the Anglican Communion, Expression of Regret, Election of Bishops, Public Rites of Blessing for Same-Sex Unions, Pastoral Care and Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight, Continued Attention to the Millennium Development Goals, Commitment to Windsor and Listening Processes, Anglican Covenant Development Process, “Full and Equal Claim” for All the Baptized, Human Rights for “Homosexual Persons,” and Amend III.1: Quadrilateral and Exercise of Ministry.
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