Monday, July 28, 2008

Discipline: Is There a Chance?

http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14834/

[Stand Firm] 28 Jul 2008-- Both rumor and report suggest that today could see a firm (in the Anglican sense of the word) call by the Windsor Continuation Group for the Episcopal Church to "respect the ban" as the Times puts it, against the consecration of non-celibate homosexual clergy, or step away from the Communion.

I'm keeping my powder dry. I don't know what to expect but revelation, in this crisis, has never matched speculation.

Let's say, however, that truth proves the rumors accurate. What would it mean? What, really, could the Lambeth Conference do to enforce such a dictum?

One commenter pointed out recently that we already have a document that does precisely what the rumored document will do. It's called the Windsor Report.

And we've all seen how effective that has been.

There is at least one difference, and Sarah mentioned it this morning, between the Windsor Report and what could come out of this Lambeth Conference. The Windsor Report was the first Communion response to consecration of Gene Robinson in 2004 and General Convention in 2003. Were the Lambeth Conference to come away affirming a call by the Windsor Continuation Group for the Episcopal Church to comply or walk apart, it would mean, for the first time, that all four Instruments of Unity have weighed in negatively on the actions of the Episcopal Church

No comments: