LAMBETH REPORT COMPLETED — FEARS ABOUND ON FUTURE OF COMMUNION

David W. Virtue DD | Virtuosity

"There is no magical way to 'square the circle' and keep all current members of the Communion satisfied, because of the irreconcilability of their views." — Anglican Communion Institute report.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Lambeth/Eames commission wrapped up its work last Friday on how to resolve the Anglican Communion's crisis over the consecration of an avowed homosexual to the U.S. episcopacy. They said it would publish its report on Oct. 18 at the beginning of the meeting in London of the joint standing committee of the Primates' Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.

Virtuosity has learned that fears the Lambeth report draft document might be leaked prematurely caused ecumenical officer Gregory Cameron at the Anglican Communion Office to ask that binding equipment be purchased and administration staff do it all themselves.

As the document is now in the hands of liberals, there is a very real danger that its contents will be leaked to newspapers like The Guardian who would spin it before orthodox believers could see it. Virtuosity is pulling out all the stops to get it for its readers.

But a battle is brewing over the Eames recommendations, with liberals screaming that The Church of England will be engulfed in "civil war" if American bishops are disciplined for consecrating its first actively homosexual Anglican bishop, there would be "outrage" and a number of clergy would consider resigning in protest, the Dean of Southwark, the Very Rev Colin Slee, said. Any attempt to do more than censure the Episcopal Church would be "gravely mistaken", added the Dean, a prominent ally of Dr Jeffrey John, the homosexual cleric forced to step down as Bishop of Reading last year.

But the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Peter Broadbent, and the Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, became the first Church of England bishops to call publicly for the suspension of their American counterparts. "I am not looking at the moment to open hostilities," said Bishop Broadbent. "But we need some degree of acknowledgement that the Episcopal Church has gone beyond what is acceptable. We need more than just slapped wrists."

Archbishop Robin Eames of Armagh, chair of the commission, said: "The commission has been greatly challenged in this task and I have been privileged to work with such a dedicated team. I have no doubt that their collective insights and recommendations can and must make a profound and practical impact for good in the life and mission of the Anglican Communion."

Dr. Rowan Williams is surprisingly cheerful despite what many see as calamitous days ahead for the whole Communion. A Virtuosity reader said Rowan and Jane Williams did a tour of 1 Millbank, the Church Commissioners' Westminster buildings to listen to their discussions. "He seemed remarkably cheerful and friendly, sitting near to me, not at all like a man in the greatest crisis since Colenso. Perhaps Eames has pulled some kind of ecclesiological rabbit out of the Canterbury cap?"

But a delegation of revisionist US bishops flew into London this past week for talks with Dr Williams, hoping no doubt, to influence the archbishop not to punish Frank Griswold.

What is for sure is that the realignment begun in the Episcopal Church will not stop whatever the outcome of the report.

Frank Griswold is a "classical Anglican" so he says. The Presiding Bishop was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 on the Sunday programme after speaking at St Paul's Cathedral. He was asked about the consecration of Gene Robinson and its impact, as well as about his reaction to the forthcoming Lambeth Commission (Eames) Report arising from the impact of that consecration. He claimed to have been surprised by the world-wide interest in and reaction to the consecration, and he refused to comment on what he would say or do if the Report recommends discipline for the ECUSA.

This week former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey will preside at confirmation services for 11 parishes in Virginia that have rejected their own bishop because of his support for Bishop Robinson. Dr. Carey said he was presiding at the invitation of Peter Lee, the bishop of Virginia. "I salute Peter Lee's spirit of generosity and humility as a demonstration that in these critical days for the Anglican Communion it is possible to avoid schism, if American bishops pay attention to the many Episcopalians who are exceedingly distressed by the consecration of Gene Robinson."

In the Diocese of Los Angeles, St. James, Newport Beach, one of the dissident parishes to depart from Bishop Jon Bruno received a Texas-size boost in the person of retired Bishop Maurice "Ben" Benitez. He has been assigned to look after the parishes in the absence of Uganda Primate Henry Orombi.

In the Diocese of the Rio Grande, Virtuosity was told that The Rev. Canon Jeffrey Steenson will be on the ballot, nominated by petition.

The Diocese of Bethlehem will send $53,722 to help the Sudanese people in their time of crisis, according to Bishop Paul Marshall. "We must act now to prevent people in Kajo Keji [Sudan] from starving to death," Bishop Marshall wrote.

In the Diocese of Pennsylvania, revisionist Bishop Charles E. Bennison told the Associated Press that he has not issued a formal same-sex blessing because the national church has yet to authorize one, but he is an outspoken supporter of gay rights and marriages.

African Anglican Bishops to Meet in Nigeria: About 350 Anglican Bishops from across Africa are meeting for six days from October 26 - November 1 in Lagos. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams will be in attendance and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is expected to deliver an opening address.

Standing in Faith, a conference sponsored by the Anglican Communion Network will hold its first formal gathering of orthodox and faithful Episcopalians in the Midwest, October 28-30.

The Church of England claims a dramatic rise in attendance figures after adopting new ways of calculating the number of worshippers. The church claimed that a "more precise figure" showed an average of 1.7 million people attending church over the month.

The Diocese of Niagara in the Anglican Church of Canada has hit an iceberg. Parishes are being disestablished as the deck chairs are being rearranged. Executive Archdeacon Marion Vincett said that during the past nine months six parishes within the diocese of Niagara have elected to disestablish.

A new Barna Institute report says born again Christians are just as likely to divorce as are non-Christians, living proof that people's religious faith appears to have no impact on whether or not a married person gets divorced.