Lambeth 2022: Statement from the Canadian House of Bishops

Read it all here:

We will be returning to our dioceses with a renewed commitment to the Lambeth Calls for Mission and Evangelism, Safe Church, Reconciliation, Human Dignity and Climate Justice as well as those Calls that will be discussed on Hospitality (Christian Unity and Interfaith relationships), and Discipleship.

The Bishops have spent a significant amount of time discussing and sharing these calls in light of our contexts. They have been at the core of the Bible studies as well as the discussions at our table groups. There has been much written in media with regard to the discussion on human dignity in particular.

We were moved by the speech of the Archbishop of Canterbury who spoke directly to the Bishops. While there is deep difference on matters of sexuality, there is a serious commitment to listening and walking together in spite of the differences to the maximum possible degree.

While in some provinces of the Communion same sex blessings/marriages have been the product of careful theological reflection and a process of reception, other provinces of the communion (and within Canada, some dioceses) maintain the traditional definition of marriage, also with careful theological reflection. The Archbishop noted that both hold to Jesus Christ and both take Scripture seriously.

The Archbishop of Canterbury made it clear that he does not have and will not seek the power to exclude or sanction provinces of the Communion who have made changes and the Lambeth I.10 resolution does not require such sanctions.

What puzzles me somewhat is the fact that Justin Welby has made it abundantly clear that the 1998 Lambeth 1.10 resolution declaring same-sex activity to be unbiblical, while still valid, is free to be completely ignored if you don’t like it.

Yet, at the same time, other Calls on Climate Justice, Christian Unity, Interfaith relationships, Reconciliation, Safe Church and so on he expects to be taken seriously. Why can’t we ignore them, too – well, to be honest I shall be expressing my defiance by turning up my air-conditioning tonight.

What exactly is the point of this conference: hundreds of bishops travelling thousands of miles in fossil fuel burning aeroplanes, spending millions of dollars to lament together about climate change and poverty.

Bishops at Lambeth sign statement affirming and celebrating LGBT+ people

Here it is. You can read the whole PDF here:

STATEMENT FROM ANGLICAN BISHOPS AND PRIMATES WHO ARE KEEN TO AFFIRM AND CELEBRATE LGBT+ PEOPLE
August 2nd 2022
“So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.” – Ephesians 2:19
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” – John 13:34
God is Love! This love revealed by Jesus, described in the Scriptures and proclaimed by the Church, is Good News for all – without exception. That is why we believe that LGBT+ people are a precious part of God’s creation – for each of us is ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14), and all are equally loved.
We recognise that many LGBT+ people have historically been wounded by the Church and particularly hurt by the events of the last few weeks. We wish to affirm the holiness of their love wherever it is found in committed relationships.
We therefore commit to working with our siblings across the Communion to listen to their stories and understand their contexts, which vary greatly. However, we will never shy away from tackling discrimination and prejudice against those of differing sexualities and gender identities.
Together, we will speak healing and hope to our broken world and look forward to the day when all may feel truly welcomed, valued and affirmed.
Signed by bishops from across the Anglican Communion including:
Most Revd Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church
Most Revd Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States
Most Revd Naudal Alves Gomes, Archbishop of Brazil
Most Revd Linda Nicholls, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Canada
Most Revd Andy Johns, Archbishop of Wales
and, as of 1640 BST on August 4th 2022, these additional 170 bishops/archbishops

Most Canadian bishops signed it:

The defining image of Lambeth 2022

Justin Welby auditioning for The Ministry of Silly Walks:

As you can imagine, it was an easy transition from oil executive to Archbishop of Canterbury to the Ministry of Silly Walks – I, for one, have seen this coming for some time.

What has accelerated Welby’s ascent to the zenith of his vocation has been his performance at Lambeth 2022.

He didn’t want to talk about sex: the press coverage has been all about sex. He didn’t want to discuss Lambeth resolution 1.10 on human sexuality: somehow it found its way into the Human Dignity Call, nonetheless. Liberals forced him to remove it. Conservatives are trying to force him to put it back. He wanted to use electronic voting machines: they are too confusing (and they reveal real numbers, which could be embarrassing) so he changed voting to “voice votes”, although no one knows how that will work. He wanted everyone to get along: conservative bishops have refused to take part in the Eucharist with homosexual bishops. And we are only on day four.

Little wonder Welby is moving to a more compatible occupation.

Bishop John Stephens launches into Lambeth Human Dignity fiasco

John Stephens, Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster, has waded fearlessly into the Lambeth Human Dignity non-issue with the following:

I’ve also recently read a piece written by the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church, where they’ve stated: “The members of the College of Bishops will seek to amend the draft call on Human Dignity urging a more inclusive approach and will work in respectful dialogue both with those colleagues across the Communion who would share the position adopted by the Scottish Episcopal Church, and with those who may differ.” The full inclusion of LGBTQ2SIA+ in every facet of the life of the Diocese of New Westminster is a core priority which has been evolving for decades. This priority is the result of decisions made by diocesan Synods over four decades and as the current bishop I honour and fully support those decisions and celebrate the diversity of our diocese.

Stephens, you will no doubt notice, is even more inclusive the many of the other bishops: he has more letters in his letter litany than your average, less inclusive, slightly benighted bishop who stalls at the “T” in LGBT. He’s probably compensating for not listing his pronouns on his office plaque.

Traditional marriage is controversial in the Anglican Church of Canada

The Anglican Journal has an article covering the rewriting of the Lambeth Call on Human Dignity. The headline is “Same-sex marriage controversy erupts pre-Lambeth”.

In case you are wondering what the controversy is, the body of the article offers clarification. It’s defining marriage as the union of a man and woman rather than two men. In the Anglican Church of Canada, to avoid controversy, we have to all agree that two men can marry each other.

From here (emphasis mine):

A draft Lambeth Conference statement reaffirming a 1998 resolution that describes marriage as the union of a man and a woman has been revised, with the resolution now mentioned but not explicitly reaffirmed. On Tuesday, Lambeth Conference staff published a new version of the Lambeth Calls, with several revisions, including the removal of the call to reaffirm 1998’s controversial resolution I.10 on same-sex marriage.

What level of insanity have we reached when a church newspaper tells us that “marriage is confined to men marrying women” is a controversial proposition? Is this an example of “those whom God wishes to destroy he first makes mad”? Let’s hope so.

Lambeth Call on Human Dignity rewritten to pacify liberals

Yesterday the Call on Human Dignity included this (my emphasis):

All human beings are made in the image of God. Therefore, Anglicans are committed to respect, protect, and acknowledge the dignity of all. There has been, however, a gap between rhetoric and reality. Historical exploitation, deepening poverty, and prejudice continue to threaten human dignity. Amidst these threats, and our own divisions and discernment, we call for: (i) an Archbishop’s Commission for Redemptive Action; (ii) the establishment of an Anglican Innovation Fund; and (iii) a reaffirmation of Lambeth I.10 that upholds marriage as between a man and a woman and requires deeper work to uphold the dignity and witness of LGBTQ Anglicans.

Today it says this:

Prejudice on the basis of gender or sexuality threatens human dignity. Given Anglican polity, and especially the autonomy of Provinces, there is disagreement and a plurality of views on the relationship between human dignity and human sexuality. Yet, we experience the safeguarding of dignity in deepening dialogue. It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that “all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation are full members of the Body of Christ” and to be welcomed, cared for, and treated with respect (I.10, 1998). Many Provinces continue to affirm that same gender marriage is not permissible. Lambeth Resolution I.10 (1998) states that the “legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions” cannot be advised. Other Provinces have blessed and welcomed same sex union/marriage after careful theological reflection and a process of reception. As Bishops we remain committed to listening and walking together to the maximum possible degree, despite our deep disagreement on these issues.

Notice that the reference to “a reaffirmation of Lambeth I.10 that upholds marriage as between a man and a woman” is missing.

The liberals have had their way – shocking, I know. Conservative bishops who refused to attend made a sensible decision; the whole thing is rigged from the top.

Here is Bishop Sam Rose (he/him – sorry Sam I forgot that last time) who has tweeted his love for the change with a ❤️. We are so blessed in Canada to have bishops who not only list their pronouns on twitter, but are fluent in emoji. And he has a rainbow thing on his photo.

Anglicanism: it really is all about sex

Anglican clergy expel endless volumes of hot air on climate change, racism, mosquito nets, universal basic income, gender-based violence – and so on. Nothing about Jesus, salvation, eternity, heaven and hell, of course, but we’ll save that for another time. They would like you to think that these weighty temporal predicaments occupy every minute of their waking thoughts. It’s not true. What really excites the average Anglican bishop is sex. They can’t get enough of it – particularly the homoerotic variety. When sex is on the agenda, the climate can boil for all they care.

There are so many bishops foaming at the mouth in horror at the very, very small possibility that they may be asked to consider that the only legitimate form of marriage is between a man and a woman, that it would waste terabytes of bandwidth to list them – so I will confine myself to some Canadian bishops:

Here is the statement from Bishop Susan Bell:

I know there has been concern over the proposed reaffirmation of Lambeth Resolution 1.10. Please be assured that in our discussions, in our fellowship, and in our conclusions, I will bear witness to the many decisions we have made in the Diocese of Niagara to embrace equal marriage and uphold the dignity of every human being.

And here is the statement from the Diocese of Edmonton’s Bishop Stephen London:

I do have to say I was extremely disappointed to see in the resolution about Human Dignity that there is a call to reaffirm Lambeth resolution I.10, from 1998, which is against marriage equality for our LGBTQ+ community. This goes against what I thought we were doing in speaking where we find we have a common mind as a communion. It is clear that there is no common mind on this issue

Here is Sam Rose, bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador:

And here is Todd Townshend, Bishop of the Diocese of Huron (click on the image to read it more clearly):

And last (for the moment), but not least, Anna Greenwood-Lee, Bishop of the Diocese of BC:

To anticipate the objection that this is all about love – it isn’t, it’s about sex.

If the homosexual clergy in the Anglican church simply loved other men but either did not want or had no intention of having sex with them, none of this would be being discussed. Lambeth resolution 1.10 would not have been written, the communion would not be divided, GAFCON and ACNA would not exist.

It is all about sex; clergy who deny this are trying to deceive you.

Bishop Kevin Robertson unhappy with Lambeth Call on Human Dignity

Kevin Robertson is the area bishop of York-Scarborough in the Diocese of Toronto. He is also a homosexual who is married to another man. As a result, he was invited to attend Lambeth 2022 but his sexual partner was not, a decision that make little sense in my opinion, although it is representative of a typical wishy-washy Anglican compromise.

Kevin Robertson was a member of the group the drafted the Lambeth Call on Human Dignity. So far so good. The only problem is that the Call in its current incarnation includes this:

All human beings are made in the image of God. Therefore, Anglicans are committed to respect, protect, and acknowledge the dignity of all. There has been, however, a gap between rhetoric and reality. Historical exploitation, deepening poverty, and prejudice continue to threaten human dignity. Amidst these threats, and our own divisions and discernment, we call for: (i) an Archbishop’s Commission for Redemptive Action; (ii) the establishment of an Anglican Innovation Fund; and (iii) a reaffirmation of Lambeth I.10 that upholds marriage as between a man and a woman and requires deeper work to uphold the dignity and witness of LGBTQ Anglicans.

According to Robertson, including a reaffirmation that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman was not discussed by the group. As you can probably tell from this, he is upset:

Dear Facebook friends,

Like many of you, I have been shocked and dismayed by the Lambeth Call on Human Dignity which, in part, calls upon the bishops to reaffirm Lambeth Resolution I.10 (1998). That 24-year-old resolution, for which there was no consensus even then, limits the definition of marriage to a man and a woman in a lifelong union. I strongly oppose the proposal to reaffirm this resolution at the upcoming Lambeth Conference, and have conveyed this to the Archbishop of Canterbury. I believe it would significantly set back the pursuit of justice and the respect for the dignity of every human person to which we are called in baptism. Moreover, as a gay man married to another man, my understanding and experience of human dignity includes the blessing of two people joined together in holy marriage, regardless of gender.

What is more disturbing is that, as a member of the Human Dignity Call drafting group, I never agreed to this Call in its current form. At no point in our meetings did we discuss the reaffirmation of Lambeth I.10 at the Conference, and it never appeared in any of the early drafts of our work together. I can confidently say that the Human Dignity Call in its current form does not represent the mind of the drafting group, and I distance myself from the reaffirmation of Lambeth I.10 in the strongest possible ways. I also unequivocally reject the phrase within the Call, “It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that same gender marriage is not permissible.” This statement is simply not true.

With others, I am seeking to amend the Human Dignity Call over the coming hours and days. I am hopeful that this is possible. There are many things in the document that do reflect the good work of the drafting group and would be tremendously positive for the Church and the world, especially the call to protect human dignity with particular attention to sexuality and gender. So, I very much hope that the Human Dignity Call can be amended rather than rejected. Please pray for a positive outcome to this work.

To my siblings in the LGBTQ2S+ community: remember that you are deeply loved and cherished. Our place in this beloved Church is not dependent on any resolution or call. By virtue of the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by our loving Creator, and redeemed through Christ, this is our Church. And we belong – fully.

Church of England unable to define “woman”

While bishops have been busying themselves discussing climate change, racism and mosquito nets at the Church of England synod currently in session, someone had the effrontery to ask the bishops to define a woman. No clear answer was forthcoming. The church, we are told, has only just begun ‘to explore the complexities associated with gender identity’.

There are repercussions to this. For example: when, in 2014, the CofE made much of Libby Lane becoming the first woman bishop, it was almost certainly mistaken. The church has probably been riddled with women bishops for centuries, since learned Anglican clerics have no idea what they even look like. For all they know, Justin Welby could be a woman.

Unsurprisingly, no one cares what the bishops have to say about climate change, but the fact that bishops have no idea what women are has sparked enough interest to make its way into the secular press.

Read the whole thing here. The comments under the article illustrate nicely how the church has managed to make itself a laughingstock. Again.

The church was put on the spot in one of almost 200 questions submitted to its ‘parliament’, the General Synod, in York this weekend.

Adam Kendry, a lay member from the Armed Forces, asked simply: ‘What is the Church of England’s definition of a woman?’

Rt Rev Robert Innes, the Bishop in Europe, replied: ‘There is no official definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy.’

He added that the church ‘has begun to explore the complexities associated with gender identity’ .

Canadian Primate, Linda Nicholls, instructs Pope on how to do synods

I was unaware that the Roman Catholic church has a death wish, but it has. The Pope is seeking advice from the leader of the denomination that, by its own admission, will cease to exist by 2040.

In fairness to the Pope, he only wants advice on how to run synods – and that’s really easy if you do it the Anglican way: he could have asked me. Take the last Anglican Church of Canada General synod, for example. The same-sex marriage motion failed to pass. Within a few days, most of the dioceses represented at the synod announced their defiance and declare they would perform them anyway.

So what could be easier? Assemble a list of motions, discuss them, vote on them and – ignore the result. The beauty of this is that it doesn’t matter what the motions are because no one has to pay any attention to the outcome: they are all meaningless. In fact, the whole thing is meaningless. Best not to hold a synod at all. Think of the money it will save.

Read more about it here:

Anglicans have an indispensable role to play as Roman Catholics start a two-year conversation on how to become a more “synodal” church, Pope Francis said at his first meeting with Archbishop Linda Nicholls, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Nicholls met the pope at the latest meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), which took place in May at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace in Rome. Due to the absence of Philip Freier, archbishop of Melbourne and Anglican co-chair of ARCIC who was attending the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia, the primate spoke on behalf of the Anglican side of the dialogue. Nicholls presented a formal statement on ARCIC from the Anglican perspective. ARCIC’s other co-chair, Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, England, spoke on behalf of Roman Catholics.