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The Windsor Report

A Liberal Response

Edited by Jonathan Clatworthy and David Bruce Taylor

 

Published by

O Books

112 pages.£7.95

ISBN 1905047290

February 2005

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over questions of sexuality and authority, prompted by the consecration of Canon Gene Robinson as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003. The most serious split in its history seems to be imminent, with liberals on one side and conservatives on the other. The Windsor Report, produced in November 2004 by the Eames Commission that was established by the Archbishop of Canterbury to find a way forwards without schism, seems to offer the last hope of reconciliation.

For the conservatives, it’s time to take stand on biblical authority and moral values. For the liberals, if the Church can’t move forward with society and be more inclusive on questions of gender and sexuality, much as it has done in the past on questions like slavery and women’s rights, then schism is preferable to unity. Both sides feel that further procrastination on what they see as essential is only more damaging in the long term. These cogently-argued articles say that the kind of status quo offered by the Windsor report is no answer. There is too much at stake to continue compromising with the spirit of fundamentalism.

The Anglican Church faces a crisis

Contributors:

• John Shelby Spong, retired Bishop of Newark, on the background to the Windsor Report
• Jonathan Clatworthy, General Secretary, Modern Churchpeople’s Union, on the illusory nature of evangelical’s claims to certainty
• Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark, on the necessity for compromise and diversity in a fair-minded church
• David Taylor, publisher, on the selective evangelical use of scripture
• Gillian Cooke, Anglican chaplain, on the silencing of debate

Anthony Woollard, Centre of the Study of Christianity and Sexuality, on the Church’s tradition of inclusivity and understanding