Windsor Continuation Grope, part 3 - more of the same

Once again, the liberal press is reporting rumors to us about what's going to be coming up at Lambeth:

Liberals will be warned that they face being expelled from the heart of Anglicanism unless they respect the ban, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

This is the third and last installment of the dreaded Windsor Continuation Group, which we've mentioned before.

Here's a reminder of its mission; it was commissioned

to work on the unanswered questions arising from the inconclusive evaluation of the primates to New Orleans and to take certain issues forward to Lambeth. This will feed in to the discussions at Lambeth about Anglican identity and the Covenant process;... it will also have to consider whether in the present circumstances it is possible for provinces or individual bishops at odds with the expressed mind of the Communion to participate fully in representative Communion agencies, including ecumenical bodies... it will thus also be bound to consider the exact status of bishops ordained by one province for ministry in another.

Not nearly as scary when you see what it's actually doing, is it -- it's yet another Anglican committee commissioned to examine the status quo.

And here's what it's apparently going to be telling the bishops at Lambeth in two days:

Until a consensus is reached, the American and Canadian churches must refrain from consecrating more homosexual bishops and carrying out blessing services for same-sex couples, the paper says. If they do not, they will face being pushed to the margins of the communion and find themselves excluded from the councils that are central to the governance of the Church. The African churches, which oppose having practising homosexuals in the clergy, will be told that they must stop intervening in the affairs of other churches as their actions are deepening the rift.

Sound familiar? It should. The Windsor Continuation Group is, after nearly four years of deep study and reflection, suggesting that everybody really ought to do what the Windsor Report said they should do in the first place. (I'm glad we had yet another committee, and more time and money spent, to bring us such a stunning insight.) And I'm sure PEcUSA and Canada will assure us, yet again, that they are complying... and the ABC will set up yet another commission to assure us that, yes, they are indeed complying.

And the penalty if they don't comply -- or, I should say, if something is actually done about their non-compliance for a change? Why... wait for it ... they might not get invited back to Lambeth in 10 years! The horror!

A little correction for the Telegraph's reporter though: Lambeth (and other international Anglican committees) are not "councils that are central to the governance of the Church". Haven't you been paying any attention? Why, just this week, Williams reminded everyone that

The Conference has never been a lawmaking body in the strict sense and it wasn't designed to be one: every local Anglican province around the world has its own independent system of church law and there is no supreme court.

These aren't councils central to the governance of each jurisdiction -- each jurisdiction can do whatever the smeg it wants, without reference to these "central" councils and conferences. Heck, in the case of PEcUSA, they've spent over 30 years doing whatever the smeg they want without reference to their own councils and canons! So it's not like there's any substance to this threatened penalty.

Anyway, come on now, how serious could this threat really be? I mean, this decade's Lambeth already represents only about one-third of the practicing "Lambeth-recognized" Anglicans in the world. (Some estimates suggest only about 11% of such Anglicans are represented there.) And the American and Canadian bishops (from their parishoner-thin top-heavy jurisdictions) -- though representing only about 2% of the world's practicing "Lambeth" Anglicans -- make up over 25% of the attendees. Stop inviting them, and the next Lambeth not only won't represent a majority of such Anglicans, it won't even have a majority of the Lambeth-recognized bishops at it either!

Actually, come to think of it, that would be a great way for Williams (or whomever) to achieve his much-desired "consensus" without requiring a central authority, any enforceable norms, or any coercive or punitive measures... just don't invite anyone else next time! Have a Lambeth Conference which consists of only the ABC, hold all the meetings, convene all the indabas, and pass all the resolutions you want... and you're still guaranteed a 100% consensus. Heck, he could hold it in his own living room and keep the thing from going 4 million dollars into debt again!


But, to return to the subject in hand -- just as these continued rumors about a restrictive Anglican Covenant, or a dreadful Anglican "Inquisition" or a draconian "Anglican Code of Law" run completely contrary to the actual facts as we currently know them, so too does this hyperventilating over the Windsor Continuation Group's upcoming report. Which, apparently, will consist of it saying "gee, it's been nearly four years now, we really ought to start to listen to the Windsor Report for a change... hello?.... guys?.... hello?.... can anyone hear me?.... hello?"

All this will, of course, accomplish no more than it did last time -- i.e. nothing at all. And, face it, even if something were to be implemented and enforced, the "penalty" for continuing to ignore the suggestions amounts to, basically, nothing. Nothing, that is, except for giving everyone a chance to reassure everyone back home that something is being accomplished. "See, we're making progress. Stop worrying and keep sending in the money!"

And, of course, all these people, who trust it when their bishops promise something is being done, will doubtless be stunned and shocked and hurt yet again, when after another four years of more vague talking, ignored resolutions, and blatantly dishonest claims of compliance... nothing continues to happen.

But sure, in the meantime, issue the Windor Report all over again. Go on. It will work this time. Really. I promise.

Update (7/28): And here it is, in their own words

We observe here that there have been calls for moratoria with regard to blessings of same sex relationships, consecration of non-celibate homosexuals and the extra-jurisdictional interventions. And we renew these calls.

Come on Charlie Brown, I'll hold it in place this time. Really I will.