The report, called "One Baptism, One Hope in God's Call," can be found here. The executive summary which starts the report tracks very closely with both the longer explanations found in the body of the report and the resolutions that follow the report. Since this is true I'll be focusing my overview on the resolutions which will be discussed, potentially amended, and voted on at the coming GC.
Resolution A159: Commitment to Interdependence in the Anglican Communion
Summary: Yes, TEC wants to be part of the AC. Really. And to keep track of what the rest of the Communion thinks on our issues we propose making sure they have a voice on the Standing Commissions of General Convention.
Comment: Mom & Apple pie, although the slight international flavor this would add to the Commissions might make for some additional fun in social time. Having the thoughts of the rest of the Communion put before us more clearly would probably also be somewhat helpful.
Resolution A160: Expression of Regret
Resolved, the House of _____ concurring, That the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church join the House of Bishops March 2005 Covenant Statement in expressing our own deep regret for the pain that others have experienced with respect to our actions at the General Convention of 2003 and we offer our sincerest apology and repentance for having breached the bonds of affection in the Anglican Communion by any failure to consult adequately with our Anglican partners before taking these actions.
Comment: Quoted from the HoB's statement, which itself was drawn almost directly from the WR with a little bit of Dromantine thrown in (I believe that's were the term repentance came from in this case). What is worth note is that, contrary to recent rumors, the Commission didn't suggest that we repent of ordaining and consecrating a partnered gay man. What is being repented of is the failure to consult enough, and the last bit of the previous resolution is part of the attempt to keep that from happening again.
Resolution A161: Election of Bishops
Resolved, the House of _____ concurring, That the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church regrets the extent to which we have, by action and inaction, contributed to strains on communion and caused deep offense to many faithful Anglican Christians as we consented to the consecration of a bishop living openly in a same-gender union. Accordingly, we urge nominating committees, electing conventions, Standing Committees, and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise very considerable caution in the nomination, election, consent to, and consecration of bishops whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.
Comment: This is the proposed response to the moratorium on new partnered homosexual bishops requested by the WR. The report notes that some members of the commission would have preferred to use refrain from in place of the bolded words above. As it is written in the report, this resolution is an affirmation of the status quo. As Integrity's response to the report notes (found here) considerable caution is always expected of the process of electing and confirming a new bishop. Integrity and Oasis, CA (response found here) are both somewhat mistaken, however, to see this as a simple rejection of the proposed moratorium. While it is not a moratorium per se, in the present circumstances it is a clear suggestion that partnered gay and lesbian priest shouldn't be elected or confirmed. The mention of other major option (refrain from) emphasizes the undesirabilityility of another candidate like Bishop Robinson at this time. It is also clear from the resolution that the reason for this is not because it is a sin to be a partnered gay person, rather it is because a large part of the rest of the AC won't stand for it at the moment.
It is also worth noting that in the explanation of the resolution the ability of a candidate to effectively pastor all the people in his or her diocese was brought up as a situation to which this resolution might apply. This is a pretty direct slam against those who refuse to ordain women, although it may not be read that way at GC or in the near future.
Resolution A162: Public Rites of Blessing for Same-Sex Unions
Resolved, the House of _____ concurring, That the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church affirm the need to maintain a breadth of private responses to situations of individual pastoral care for gay and lesbian Christians in this Church; and be it further
Resolved, That the 75th General Convention concur with the Windsor Report in its exhortation to bishops of the Anglican Communion to honor the Primates Pastoral Letter of May 2003, by not proceeding to authorize public Rites of Blessing for same-sex unions, until some broader consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges; and be it further
Resolved, That the 75th General Convention advise those bishops who have authorized public diocesan rites that, because of the serious repercussions in the Communion, they heed the invitation to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorization (Windsor Report 144).
Comment: This part has gotten complaints from both Integrity and Oasis, CA so far as well as some of the posters at the other blogs that have commented on the report (ex. in the comments at Fr. Jake Stops the World and Preludium). This looks like a reaffirmation of the current status quo to me. Mostly this doesn't bother me because it looks like it is only talking about putting anything in the Book of Occasional Services or other book of liturgies (note paragraph 53 of the report also the last resolve which talks about public diocesan rites). In this case a Rite of Blessing would be public only if it were provided by the diocese or the national church for general use. At this time, however, most ssb rites are written up (probably from a general outline or from a previous such rite) individually for each couple, which makes them basically private no matter how widely the text is spread. The only exceptions are in those dioceses that have approved a specific rite.
Resolution A163: Pastoral Care and DEPO
Summary: It's really important to take care of everyone in the church and elsewhere, especially minorities and the oppressed. We think DEPO does a good job of trying to do this so make sure you (bishops) make use of it as needed. Disrespecting diocesan borders is not a helpful solution to feeling put upon by ones bishop so don't even think about it you other provinces of the AC.
Comment: This is another bit of Mom & Apple Pie. What could prove interesting is any changes in how DEPO works proposed by GC. There are certainly plenty of conservatives that don't like it, but finding a change that sufficiently respects the authority of diocesan bishops may be difficult.
Resolution A164: Continued Attention to the Millenium Development Goals
Summary: We really like the MDGs and want all the dioceses to speak in favor of them. We think this is a good concrete way to show how important working with the rest of the AC is to us.
Comment: This is more Mom & Apple Pie. It is more or less totally uncontroversial and should sail through GC pretty easily.
Resolution A165: Commitment to Windsor and Listening Processes
Summary: The WR helpful for thinking how we can live together in the AC. Lets think together about what our church (the AC) should look like (this is the newly named Windsor Process). Lets also talk and think together as a Communion on the questions around sexuality (the Listening Process), thanks for helping us do that AC Office. We think To Set Out Hope on Christ will help in the Listening Process, and so will the example of the Anglican women who talked to the UN recently. We think our report will help in both the processes, too.
Comment: There's not much interesting here. It points out to everyone that the WR and the Dromantine statement aren't the end of the discussion and commits us to stay involved with the rest of the AC, but that's about it.
Resolution A166: Anglican Covenant Development Process
Summary: Let's get in on the ground floor of writing the suggested Anglican Covenant and make sure it's tolerable for us.
Comment: This resolution doesn't bother me at all. It does worry some people, however. I think paragraphs 67-77 in the report are helpful in thinking about what the covenant might look like. In particular in three types of covenants seem to have been proposed and are on the table for discussion. They are the canonical/structural type, the confessional/doctrinal type, and the missional/relational type. The WR focused more on the first, while the Primates focused on the second, and the ACC focused on the third. All this means that nothing has been decided on the matter yet and things could get interesting around this topic in 2009 at the 76th GC assuming TEC is still in the AC at that time.
Resolution A167: "Full and Equal Claim" for all the Baptized
Summary: Like we've been saying since 1976, gay and lesbian people are just as much a part of the church as anyone else, so treat them appropriately.
Comment: It speaks for itself very well. It cites GC's back to 1976.
Resolution A168: Human Rights for "Homosexual Persons"
Summary: Like we've been saying since 1976, gay and lesbian people have rights, and everyone in the AC needs to respect those rights.
Comment: This one also speaks for itself very well. I note that this resolution cites Lambeth Conferences back into the 70's as well as the WR. It could easily be taken as criticism of the statements made by some opponents of ssb's and the ordination of gay and lesbian people such as Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria.
Resolution A169: Amend Canon III.1: Quadrilateral and Exercise of Ministry
Resolved, the House of _____ concurring, That Canon III.1 be hereby amended by adding the following section:
Sec. 3. No person shall be denied access to any discernment process under these canons or to the exercise of any ministry in this Church on account of theological opinions consistent with (a) the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as containing all things necessary to salvation, and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith, (b) the Apostles' Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol; and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith, (c) the two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself (Baptism and the Supper of the Lord) ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words of Institution, and the elements ordained by Him, and (d) the Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the Unity of His Church.
Comment: This is the only proposed canonical revision, and, if adopted, would come right after the canon prohibiting discrimination against women and gay and lesbian people. Its proposed placement and focus on theological opinion suggest that it is intended to be a defense for conservatives in TEC. It would certainly function that way. It would also provide protection to liberals in conservative dioceses. To some extent this balances out the blow to anti-WO people that was delivered in resolution A161, but it doesn't guarantee that no objections would be raised. I am inclined to think that this is a reasonably good resolution no matter what trouble it could cause around the non-issue of WO because it could help some conservative parishes feel that they will be able to get the support they need from within TEC rather than having to look overseas.
Over all I think the report is a pretty hopeful sign; it will be interesting to see where these resolutions go at GC this summer.
Jon
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