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THE WINDSOR REPORT:
A REPORT FROM THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS
1. Following the publication of the Windsor Report on 18 October 2004, the House asked the Chairs of its Theological Group and the Faith and Order Advisory Group, the Bishops of Rochester and Chichester (assisted by the Vice-Chair of FOAG, the Bishop of Guildford and the House’s theological consultant, Dr Martin Davie ), to prepare a paper to help guide its own deliberations at its January 2005 meeting, with a view to this document forming the basis of the Church of England’s response prior to the Primates’ Meeting in Belfast on 20 –26 February. This document, which was also informed by discussion at a meeting of bishops at Lambeth on 1 December, is attached. The House was mindful that the issues which the Windsor Report seeks to address have significant implications for Anglican ecumenical dialogue and inter-faith relationships.
2. In considering the Report, the House was very conscious of the critical and urgent issues addressed by the Windsor Report for the cohesion of the Anglican Communion, and the need to support the Archbishop of Canterbury in his dual role both in terms of the leadership of the Anglican Communion and as the representative of the Church of England at the forthcoming Primates’ Meeting. This meeting is potentially of great significance for the future unity of the Anglican Communion and its ecumenical relationships, and with this in mind the House decided to focus on questions of particular immediacy for this meeting (rather than, for instance, consider points of detail about the illustrative Covenant set out in Appendix 2 of the Report).
3. With the foregoing in mind, the House therefore:
a Affirms the basis of faith and life that binds Anglicans together as set out in paragraphs 1-11 of the Windsor Report and illustrated by the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral and accepts the basic principle of autonomy-in-communion exercised within the constraints of truth and charity set out in the Report .
b Supports the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates in taking all steps necessary to seek to achieve reconciliation by persuading all within the Anglican Communion to comply with the mind of the Communion as expressed by the Instruments of Unity, in the light of the recommendations of the Windsor Report.
c Supports the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates in requesting ECUSA and other parts of the Communion that have taken similar decisions to provide for the rest of the Communion the thought-out theological rationale, based on Scripture and Tradition, for the actions that have been taken that has been requested in the past but which so far has not been forthcoming.
4. The House also recognises that there are structural issues that will need to be resolved with some urgency in relation to how the Anglican Communion expresses its mind. The House supports the drawing up of an Anglican Covenant and commends an enhanced and properly resourced role for the Archbishop of Canterbury in fostering the unity and mission of the Anglican Communion.
5. Finally, the House upholds the Primates in its prayers as they prepare for their meeting in Belfast later this month.
NOTE: The preceeding text is the introduction to the House of Bishop's Report. The entire report is approximately 33 pages. In order to maintain the format of the original report, the report is provided to you in PDF format.
To read the entire report (approx 33 pages), click on the link below.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=2&lid=10
