A Statement from the Presiding Bishop
regarding the Windsor Report.
regarding the Windsor Report.
A great controversy has taken place in the Anglican Communion following the consecration of the first openly gay Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Eugene Robinson of New Hampshire and the decision of some diocese in the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church in Canada to bless same sex unions. While the Universal Anglican Church is not part of the Anglican Communion, we look with interest at developments withing Anglican bodies throughout the world.
The result of this controversy was that the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed a Commission, the Eames Commission, to study the issue and return with a report. That report is the Windsor Report. While this report is a 93 page document, the heart of the report has been characterized in the following way in a letter from the the Anglican Church in New Zealand, as reported by the Anglican Communion News Service:
The strongest recommendations address the Episcopal Church of the USA, and invite that church to express regret for ordaining the Bishop of New Hampshire without sufficient consultation with the rest of the communion. It also called for a moratorium on the ordination of any further bishops who live in same gender unions until "some new consensus" emerges internationally, among Anglicans.
Bishops were urged not to proceed with approving rites for the blessing of same sex unions. More biblical and theological study of the issue was encouraged, including a need for clarity about the distinction between same sex union and same sex marriage.
We note with regret the call for "More biblical and theological study of the issue," a call which denies the scientific reality of human sexuality. Science has demonstrated that sexual orientation is determined, not chosen. Extensive biblical and theological study of the issue will not change the reality, any more than extensive biblical and theological study of the earth will not change the reality that the earth is round, biblical claims to the contrary notwithstanding.
In essence, we have learned that sexual orientation is a part of how God created us. It would seem to be God's will that some of us are created as homosexual persons and others of us are created as heterosexual persons. While we may not understand the reasons for this, the reality remains unchanged. To say that any group of people are disqualified from ministry because of how God created them is patently absurd!
Nevertheless, we have heard these arguments before. We have had people of color excluded from full participation in the church because of their color, we have had women excluded from full participation in the life of the church because they were female, we have had people excluded from full participation in the church because of differences in ability -- all aspects of how God created them.
The time has come for all parts of the Christian Church to recognize that all people are loved by God, and the differences between us are gifts from God, not opportunities to discriminate. We call our brothers and sisters within Christendom who fail to see this truth to repent of the sin of discrimination and amend their lives.
We find there to be no reason for further debate regarding sexual orientation. We arrive at the conclusion that human sexuality is a gift from God that should be celebrated by all people. In the Universal Anglican Church, we refuse to discriminate on any basis. Full participation in this Church is open to all people.
God's Peace,
The Most Rev. Craig Bergland, CHC
Presiding Bishop of the Universal Anglican Church
The result of this controversy was that the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed a Commission, the Eames Commission, to study the issue and return with a report. That report is the Windsor Report. While this report is a 93 page document, the heart of the report has been characterized in the following way in a letter from the the Anglican Church in New Zealand, as reported by the Anglican Communion News Service:
The strongest recommendations address the Episcopal Church of the USA, and invite that church to express regret for ordaining the Bishop of New Hampshire without sufficient consultation with the rest of the communion. It also called for a moratorium on the ordination of any further bishops who live in same gender unions until "some new consensus" emerges internationally, among Anglicans.
Bishops were urged not to proceed with approving rites for the blessing of same sex unions. More biblical and theological study of the issue was encouraged, including a need for clarity about the distinction between same sex union and same sex marriage.
We note with regret the call for "More biblical and theological study of the issue," a call which denies the scientific reality of human sexuality. Science has demonstrated that sexual orientation is determined, not chosen. Extensive biblical and theological study of the issue will not change the reality, any more than extensive biblical and theological study of the earth will not change the reality that the earth is round, biblical claims to the contrary notwithstanding.
In essence, we have learned that sexual orientation is a part of how God created us. It would seem to be God's will that some of us are created as homosexual persons and others of us are created as heterosexual persons. While we may not understand the reasons for this, the reality remains unchanged. To say that any group of people are disqualified from ministry because of how God created them is patently absurd!
Nevertheless, we have heard these arguments before. We have had people of color excluded from full participation in the church because of their color, we have had women excluded from full participation in the life of the church because they were female, we have had people excluded from full participation in the church because of differences in ability -- all aspects of how God created them.
The time has come for all parts of the Christian Church to recognize that all people are loved by God, and the differences between us are gifts from God, not opportunities to discriminate. We call our brothers and sisters within Christendom who fail to see this truth to repent of the sin of discrimination and amend their lives.
We find there to be no reason for further debate regarding sexual orientation. We arrive at the conclusion that human sexuality is a gift from God that should be celebrated by all people. In the Universal Anglican Church, we refuse to discriminate on any basis. Full participation in this Church is open to all people.
God's Peace,
The Most Rev. Craig Bergland, CHC
Presiding Bishop of the Universal Anglican Church
