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December 12, 2004
What does the Windsor Report say about blessing same-sex unions?
Now that Civil Unions will become recognised under New Zealand law, we can expect the liberal lobby within our church to press for official rites of blessing for such unions. Of particular concern are the statements made by Bishop John Bluck (Waiapu) on the National Radio back in June 2004 where he gave the opinion that such rites were already authorised within our church. If that is so, it would come as a great surprise to the rest of the church! Do they have their own General Synod there in Napier?
Fortunately, the Windsor Report has been very clear as to the status of same-sex blessings within the Anglican Communion, something that was noted in the Pastoral Letter of the New Zealand Bishops released in response to the Report.
The following are some relevant excerpts from the Windsor Report:
Paragraph 138
“…normally in the churches of the Communion there is not unqualified freedom on the part of any bishop or diocese to authorise liturgical texts if they are likely to be inconsistent with the norms of liturgical and doctrinal usage extant in the province’s Book of Common Prayer or other provincially authorised texts.”
Paragraph 141
“The clear and repeated statements of the Instruments of Unity have also been to advise against the development and approval of such rites. Whilst proponents of actions in the Diocese of New Westminster and the Episcopal Church (USA) may argue that such advice has only moral authority, we believe that it must be recognised that actions to move towards the authorisation of such rites in the face of opposition from the wider Anglican Communion constitutes a denial of the bonds of Communion.”
Paragraph 142
“…it should not be surprising that such developments are seen by some as surrendering to the spirit of the age rather than an authentic development of the gospel.”
Paragraph 143
“For the sake of our common life, we call upon all bishops of the Anglican Communion to honour the Primates’ Pastoral Letter of May 2003, by not proceeding to authorise public Rites of Blessing for same sex unions.”
Paragraph 144
“Because of the serious repercussions in the Communion, we call for a moratorium on all such public Rites, and recommend that bishops who have authorised such rites in the United States and Canada be invited to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorisation.”
Rev Malcolm Falloon
Warden
Posted by latimer at December 12, 2004 09:18 AM