by George Conger

Confusion and intrigue marked the final meeting of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, as partisans on both sides of the issue sought to manipulate the proceedings through a series of leaks purporting to disclose how the Commission would act – a decision that not will be made public until October 18.

Meeting at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle outside London last month for the LCC’s final plenary session, the Commission’s Secretary, Canon Gregory Cameron stated there was a high degree of consensus among the Commissioners as to how to procede.  There would be no ‘fudge’, or avoiding the issues, in the final report, he stated.

The LCC’s Steering Committee, led by Archbishop Robin Eames of Ireland, will cobble together the work of the 17 commissioners into a single report to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The report will then be shared with the members of the Primates Standing Committee and made public on Oct 18 when it is released to the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council.

The Primates Standing Committee, consisting of five regional representatives from Hong Kong, North India, Central Africa, the United States and Wales, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will review the report and set the agenda for the February Primates Meeting in Ulster.  “It is the Standing Committee of the Primates which will have to come to a decision about how and when the Primates as a body will respond to the report,” Archbishop Eames stated.

British press reports published the week before the LCC meeting quote Commission insiders as saying the report would recommend the American Church be disciplined for consecrating a sexually active homosexual priest as Bishop of New Hampshire.  The Times of London reported ECUSA would be barred from future pan-Anglican gatherings, while the Telegraph noted ECUSA would be asked to repent or be subject to isolation from the life of the Communion.

Partisans of both sides were quick to ‘spin’ the press reports. Conservative activists said an early release would force the LCC’s Steering Committee to be faithful to the wishes of the majority of the Commissioners.

Liberals hoped the strident tone of the demands placed upon the American Church would provoke a backlash within the Commission ranks.  ‘Strategic leaking’ is not new, having been employed at the 1998 Lambeth Conference and subsequent Primates Meetings by church bureaucrats and activists in order to gain a political or moral advantage going into contested meetings.

At the start of the final plenary session, a majority of LCC Commissioners favoured some degree of discipline of the Episcopal Church. This desire has been tempered, however, by the realisation that the Anglican Communion cannot enforce its dictates. In an interview with the BBC last month, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold hinted that the US Church would endorse but might not abide by any decision against its interests, while at a speech in New York city just days earlier, Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire – who is at the centre of the controversy – stated he would not resign and could not be compelled to do so by the Communion.

“We have allowed the conservative religious right to take our Bible hostage, and I think it is time we took it back,” Bishop Robinson said.

The Rev George Conger is a conservative minister and journalist from Florida.