Conflict and Compromise

November, 2004

CONFLICT AND COMPROMISE:

WILL THE “WINDSOR REPORT” SAVE US FROM SCHISM?

My short answer is: I doubt it. I hope and pray it does. Miracles do happen.

This is the long-awaited pronouncement* that was supposed to settle the conflict over General Convention 2003 and end all our disputes, or else crack us open like a walnut. I didn’t have great expectations before, and I don’t now.

My doubts are partly because of the nature of the report itself. It is beautifully written and carefully crafted. It conveys some good news and some bad news to all sides, and it pleads earnestly for patience and reconciliation. It is eloquently and painstakingly Anglican. And that is why, in the end, it is not likely to save us from some sort of schism. Compromise may be fair, but it makes everybody unhappy on some level.

To the radical side in the United States and Canada, the report gives a reprimand. It says that they should not have gone ahead with the consecration of Robinson knowing the level of disapproval in the provinces of Africa and elsewhere. It suggests that those bishops who took part in the consecration should express their regret—not for the act itself, but for the dismay it caused. Further, they should absent themselves from Anglican meetings until they have done so, and they should refrain from any further consecrations of non-celibate gays or from blessing any such relationships.

But it does not suggest removal of Robinson or punishment for him or any involved.

To those on the reactionary side, the report criticizes those African primates who have violated church order by starting American missions in competition with Episcopal dioceses, accepting clergy and congregations under their supervision who want to break with their own Episcopal bishops. They also are to apologize, cease, and desist. The “visiting bishop” plan devised by the American bishops to provide Episcopal oversight to congregations in rebellion against their own bishop is quite sufficient, the report concludes.

The other reason for my doubtfulness is familiarity with human nature, and especially with the solidity of the views of the combatants on both sides, and the degree of anger on the conservative side. Many of the traditionalists expected an outright victory in this report, and they did not get it. I will be surprised if anything less will turn them from the path of divorce from the Episcopal Church, USA.

Will the requested statements of regret take place? Perhaps, since they are so limited in scope. But will the requested restraint in actions take place? I doubt that. I don’t know of any diocese considering an election such as New Hampshire’s, but I think we all understand that it is only a matter of time. I am also very sure that the blessing of relationships will continue in some places, as will the violation of provincial and diocesan boundaries by activist bishops.

But miracles do happen. I am also convinced that nearly everyone is bone-weary of this fight. If this report buys us time (a lot of it), then it may accomplish its purpose, with God’s help. In my view, time is the only element that can bring perspective and resolution, not to mention healing, to this polarity. One day, we will come to some kind of lasting conclusion as to what homosexuality is, and a new generation will wonder what in blazes we were all so upset about. Meanwhile, I hope we can live together in Christian love if in disagreement. Disputes have a way of resolving themselves after a while, but schisms live on even after people have forgotten why the breach. Schism, therefore, is itself the greater sin.

* For those blissfully unaware, the Eames Commission is that august body set up by the Primates of the church to study the consecration of Gene Robinson and the subsequent furor in the communion, and the “Windsor Report” is the document they produced (named for Windsor Castle, where they met in St. George’s Chapel.) The lone American representative on the Eames Commission, Mark Dyer, retired Bishop of Bethlehem (PA) and professor at Virginia Theological Seminary, will meet with our clergy in December to discuss this report.