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Teetering on the Brink of Destruction

© Michael P. Spencer

In the aftermath of Lambeth 1998, the Anglican Communion was left with a particularly confusing and controversial resolution regarding homosexuality.

Resolution I.10 from Section I:

Human Sexuality

This Conference:

(a) commends to the Church the subsection report on human sexuality;

(b) in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage;

(c) recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God's transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ;

(d) while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex;

(e) cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions;

It is important to remember when considering this resolution that it has no binding authority in any province of the Anglican Communion. Bishops can and do disregard any of the resolutions passed by the Conference. The wording and spirit of this resolution was driven, in great part, by bishops from Africa and Asia. This is a significant point, as the Anglican Communion is now approximately 70% African and Asian. This resolution represents perhaps the first major doctrinal resolution not originating from Western bishops.

The resolution has sparked an explosion of controversy that touches all areas of the Communion. In the U.S., the tragic death of Matthew Shepherd, a gay man who was also an Episcopalian, has caused many liberal-leaning Anglicans to point out that this group is still subject to brutal and sometimes fatal physical abuse, and that the resolution feeds the flame of hate crime. More conservative voices claim the resolution didn't do enough, in that it allows for the possibility of orientation rather than preference or choice of sexuality, and affords those engaging in homosexual activity full communion in the Body of Christ.

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