World Church
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/39/00/acns3948.cfm
To Set Our Hope on Christ, a response to the Windsor Report from the Episcopal Church USA – downloadable pdf file:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/ToSetOurHopeOnChrist.pdf
Statement from the Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission Council at its April 2004 meeting at Estes Park:
http://www.associatedparishes.org/councilmeeting2005.html
Statement prepared by Rev. Leon Spencer for the NC diocese School of Ministry:
http://www.episdionc.com/convention/2005/windsor/summary.html
Covenant statement of the US House of Bishops, March 2005:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_60016_ENG_HTM.htm
A statement by the Archbishop of Wales can be found at
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/archbishop/b0001e.html
A few sources from different parts of the world:
- Report from theological commission of the Anglican Church of Canada as to whether same-sex unions constitutes a matter of church doctrine:
http://www.anglican.ca/news/news.php?newsItem=2005-05-07_a.ans
Copy of the report:
http://www.anglican.ca/primate/ptc/smr-insert.htm - Statement of the Bishops of the Church in Wales on homosexuality:
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/press/0298e.html
And on the new civil partnerships law in Great Britain:
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/press/0299e.html -
South Africa’s courts have guaranteed the same rights to same-sex couples as married couples; reaction of the church is at
http://www.aco.org/acns/articles/39/75/acns3976.cfm -
Panama Declaration; October 2005 statement from South America trying to find a middle way:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/40/50/acns4054.cfm -
Statement of the Diocese of Singapore on 2003 breaking off relations with ECUSA, claiming that in consecrating Gene Robinson as a bishop, ECUSA became apostate.
http://www.anglican.org.sg/break_communion_24nov2003.html -
Detailed response of the Church in Ireland to the Windsor Report:
http://www.ireland.anglican.org/issues/CofIResponseWindsor.pdf
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/39/00/acns3949.cfm
This site also contains the text of the Archbishop of Canterbury's sermon on the peace of Christ, preached at the communion service for the meeting.
The Presiding Bishop of the USA, Frank Griswold, also preached the day before the meeting. His sermon can be found at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_58751_ENG_HTM.htm
For background on the attitude of the Anglican Communion in the world to events in North America (the consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as Bishop in the USA, for the Diocese of New Hampshire, and the approval of the blessing of same-sex unions in Canada, in the Diocese of New Westminster, B.C.) see http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/36/25/acns3633.html where the statement of a meeting of the Primates from October 2003 can be read.
The Windsor Report, a very long document produced by a commission looking into ways to preserve the unity of the church in the light of the differences over sexual matters, can be found at http://www.anglicancommunion.org/windsor2004/index.cfm
The process of deliberations, committee discussions, and attempts to understand and accept each other goes on. The US and Canadian churches have not been expelled from the community of the Anglican Communion; there is no intent to do that.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has not decided not to invite North American bishops to the Lambeth Conference in 2008.
The request for North American members to voluntarily withdraw from some of the meetings of the world church for the next three years was made; the only way it could happen is that those bishops agreed to do so. And one must note that despite being asked to withdraw, the same report specifically provides for the churches involved to attend the meetings in June 2005 to talk in depth about the reasons for their actions that led to all this furor.
There is serious disagreement in the world church over same-sex relationships. Other sister churches have not had the same experience, nor do they have the same forms of governance. All this needs time to be explained, and perhaps understood in context.
Comments from a number of the primates attending the meeting in Ireland, including our Presiding Bishop, can be found at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_58738_ENG_HTM.htm. These include comments from Uganda, Scotland, South Africa, and Canada. They show clearly the strong differences of opinions on the issue.
Some would argue that different places make different adjustments according to local understanding and need; others see that as compromising the faith. The church has struggled with this issue through the centuries. So far in the Anglican way, we have not sought to force people into one way of thinking and believing. But for some, there is a limit to the famous flexibility of our ways.
Pray for the church.