Posted Thursday 1 March 2007
Reflections from Bishop Idris on the Windsor Report:
“The Windsor Report remains a substantial document and will part of Anglican literature for some time to come. Its proposals and its reasoning are still worth thinking over, but it is the suggestion of an Anglican Covenant that is now the focus of debate around the Communion as a whole and to which we turned our attention at Diocesan Synod.
“But first it may help to have a sense of ‘time-table’. Provinces have been asked to respond to the proposals as set out by a steering group drawn from the Communion. The College of Bishops has already said that a covenant is worth exploring but not on the basis of a set document to which everyone is expected to sign up. We already have one of those - it’s called the Lambeth Quadrilateral (ask your Rector if you want to know about this!).
“There are other ways of being ‘in covenant’ and we would like to explore these as possible ways forward. By the time you read this, the Primate’s Meeting in February 2007 will have had an opportunity to consider what is being offered and it will be considered again by the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in July/August 2008. But the final decision is likely to come from a joint meeting of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council in 2009. So the time-frame is limited but not too short.
“What are the issues? First of all, the question of how the Anglican Communion can continue and what kind of structure - if any - is needed to assist that continuing life. Within that process we have to discern something of the nature of divergence and disagreement and to seek ways of remaining together in ‘bonds of affection’ with our differences. There will be a debate to be had around the notion of ‘boundaries’ and of whether we are at heart wanting to have as many folk ‘in Communion’ as we can, or need to somehow defend the faith and to say that some beliefs or actions place folk ‘out of Communion’ - in which case where are we?
“So it is an important area of discussion and although it’s focused on the world-wide Communion the fact is that is affects us all because it’s asking the question of us ‘What kind of Church do we believe God is calling us to be?’
“I hope that this will serve as a helpful introduction to our discussions - I do need to point out that I am expressing my own view and not speaking on behalf of anyone else in writing this article.”
Category: Bishop Idris
