Canterbury Calls for Moratorium on Gay Bishops

The one-in-a-decade Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops is over. The Bishops leave having taken no action with regard to any of the issues facing the church.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - After eighteen grueling days, another Lambeth Conference is now history. The 650 bishops who gathered came divided and basically left the same way, though no split took place. At the end, Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, called for the bishops to place a moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops saying that Anglicans "need space for study and free discussion without pressure." In addition, Dr. Williams also called for a moratorium on the interventions across provincial lines.

Both of these pleas were particularly aimed at the North American province of The Episcopal Church (TEC) USA. The consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson has become the rallying point for radical reforms in theology and practice and a major point of contention. In addition, bishops from Africa and Asia have crossed provincial lines, offering a separate connection to the Anglican Communion for those within TEC.

At the closing news conference Williams stated, "If the North American churches don't accept the need for moratoria, then, to say the least, we are no further forward. That means, as a communion, we continue to be in grave peril."

During his final address to the conference, Williams made it very clear that he desired for unity to come to the Communion. He also made it clear that, in his mind, unity is not just agreeing to disagree. "Our unity is not mutual forbearance but being summoned and drawn into the same place before the Father's throne. That unity is a pure gift - and something we can think of in fear and trembling as well as wordless gratitude; because to be in that place is to be in the light of absolute Truth, naked and defenseless."

The question by most Anglican-watchers is whether that unity can actually be achieved within so much diversity. For example, the conference itself was a testimony to wide margins held within the communion.
• Bishop Gene Robinson, although not invited to the conference, came and spent his time around the fringes to plead his case for an openly gay episcopate.
• The bishops who organized GAFCON in Jerusalem just a few weeks prior to Lambeth were still trying to sort out the implications of their "Jerusalem Covenant" with the future covenants desired by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• The big question mark in the minds of many concerning The Episcopal Church's response to a requested moratorium on consecrating gay bishops.
• The statement made by Presiding Bishop Jefforts-Schori that TEC could stand for The Episcopal Church or The Episcopal Communion, should Lambeth prove untenable for her jurisdiction.
• The statement made at Lambeth by a female American bishop, accusing bishops from the Global South of beating their wives.
• Church of England bishops met with the Archbishop of Canterbury to request a peaceful withdrawal from the Communion for those clergy and parishes that could not longer, in good conscience, support where it is going.

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A lot of dialog took place both inside and outside the meetings in the three weeks at Canterbury. Much of it took place in small group meetings called "Indaba" groups, where around 40 bishops would discuss various issues including mission and evangelism, social justice, the environment, ecumenism, and human sexuality.

Members of a Reflections group, who were situated as listeners to take notes and summarize the dialog that took place, captured the conversations in each of the Indaba groups. These notes then combined for public distribution.

In the next few weeks the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of the Lambeth Conference will become more visible. We will learn several things:
• Whether the moratorium on consecrating gay bishops will be followed.
• Whether the incursion by bishops into other provinces will continue.
• What response the Vatican will offer the Anglican bishops who met with them just prior to the conference.
• How the organizing bishops of GAFCON will proceed in exercising their "Jerusalem Covenant" and establishing a separate governing council for their affairs.
• What the Episcopal Church will do in terms of their relationship with Canterbury.

For most of those who went to Lambeth to report on or observe the gathering, the conference expended a lot of energy in dialog but no actual actions were taken. The Anglican Communion, while not in schism, has not moved any further in unity.

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