THE BISHOP OF NORTH CAROLINA

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We, your bishops, address you at a time of great struggle and difficulty for the world in which we live and the church of which we are a part.

The occasion of our speaking is the publication on October 18, 2004 of the Windsor Report of the Lambeth Commission appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The work of the Lambeth Commission and the report is an attempt to propose and recommend ways that the world wide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part, can maintain "the highest degree of communion that may be possible," given differences and tensions among us on questions of homosexuality, our biblical witness and living the Christian life. These differences and tensions came to light after, "The decision of the 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church (USA) to give consent to the election of bishop Gene Robinson to the Diocese of New Hampshire, the authorizing by a diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada of a public Rite of Blessing for same sex unions and the involvement in other provinces by bishops without the consent or approval of the incumbent bishop to perform Episcopal functions." ¹

It is important to understand that the publication of the Windsor Report is neither a decision decreed nor the concluding statement on these matters. The Report is the beginning of a conversation of prayer, study, reflection, dialogue and discernment. The chair of the Commission, Archbishop Robin Eames, in the foreword says, "The Report is not a judgment. It is part of a process. It is part of a pilgrimage toward healing and reconciliation."

The Anglican Communion of which the Episcopal Church is a member is a communion of some 77 million Christians in provincial churches throughout the world. Decisions in this communion are not made by any single person or body, but through such prayerful process as that suggested by the Windsor Report. In such a process we seek to listen to the witness of the Holy Scriptures and our shared spiritual tradition, as well as reasoned thought, conversation and experience. By listening to God speaking through these means and through our very lives we trust the Holy Spirit to lead us in time into the deeper ways of God's love and truth. This report and its recommendations continues just such a conversation.

We are all being invited to participate in a process of prayerful conversation. The conversation can and will happen in our local congregations. The conversation will happen as the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church meets in November, as the House of Bishops meets in January, 2005; as the Primates, the Anglican Consultative Council and all levels of our Communion meet and reflect throughout next year and in years to come.

We are mindful that the Gospel reading for today is the parable of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14). Through the parable Jesus calls and challenges those who would be his disciples to live in a spirit of humility. Concluding the parable our Lord says: "all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." One thinks of the words of the prophet Micah who said, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). The way of the disciple of Jesus, the way of a godly life, is the way of humility, the way of compassion, the way of justice, the way of God's love.

At the September meeting of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church the bishops made the following commitment to participate fully in this conversation of faith. "We are committed to a gracious reception of the report in a spirit of humility and to a willingness to learn how we might best be faithful and responsible partners in the Anglican Communion. It is our intention to gather as provincial Houses of Bishops during the autumn and then to meet as a House of Bishops early in the new year to study and appropriate the work of the Commission." (A Word To The Church, from the House of Bishops, September 2004) It is in that spirit of humility before God and each other that we pledge ourselves and invite all to consider the proposals and recommendations of the Windsor Report of the Lambeth Commission.

Sadly, there is no question that a great many people within the Anglican communion around the world holding many different positions on matters of homosexuality, biblical witness and living the Christian life have wounded each other in efforts to defend God's truth as we understand it. This has been true around the Communion and for many here in North Carolina. In humility we are called to recognize with contrite hearts that only in part do we understand and only as through a glass darkly do we see and to ask forgiveness for the times and ways in which, for the sake of the truth we hold dear, we have failed to love the other as we love ourselves.

In the foreword to the report Archbishop Robin Eames, the Chair of the Commission, reminds us all that the work of the Commission is intended to help us find ways of communion with Jesus Christ and with each other, in order that we might be witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a world profoundly in need of the Gospel's word of love, forgiveness, compassion, justice and reconciliation. Holy Scripture in no uncertain words reminds and calls us repeatedly to respond to the cries of human misery. The Archbishop solemnly reminds us of the world in which we live and for which Christ came. He wrote: "Even as the Commission prepared for its final meeting the cries of children in a school in southern Russia reminded us of our real witness and ministry in a world already confronted by poverty, violence, HIV/AIDS, famine and injustice."

As disciples we are called to follow in the way of Jesus Christ, the way of the Gospel, working toward healing and reconciliation in our lives, in our communities, in and for the world. That work of healing and reconciliation is the mission of the Church in and for the world. May God, through our lives as followers of Jesus Christ, use us to accomplish God's purposes of healing and reconciliation throughout creation.

Your brothers in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. J. Gary Gloster, Assisting Bishop

The Rt. Rev. Alfred C. Marble, Jr., Assisting Bishop

¹ Unless otherwise noted all quotations are from The Windsor Report 2004 of the Lambeth Commission on Communion (The Anglican Commuion Office, London, UK, 2004)