A Proposed Resolution on Lambeth 1:10
Topic/Title: An Embrace of Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10 as the Teaching of The Episcopal Church
Proposer: The Rev. Canon Dr. Kendall S. Harmon (South Carolina)

Resolved, the House of ______ Concurring, That the 75th General Convention endorses, embraces, and pledges to uphold in its teaching and practice of common life Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

Explanation:

The full text of the resolution referred to above is as follows:

”Lambeth Conference 1998: Resolution 1.10 Human Sexuality

This Conference:
1commends to the Church the subsection report on human sexuality;2in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage;3recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God’s transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ;4while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex;5cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions;6requests the Primates and the ACC to establish a means of monitoring the work done on the subject of human sexuality in the Communion and to share statements and resources among us;7notes the significance of the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Human Sexuality and the concerns expressed in resolutions IV.26, V.1, V.10, V.23 and V.35 on the authority of Scripture in matters of marriage and sexuality and asks the Primates and the ACC to include them in their monitoring process.”

Asked to describe the task of the Lambeth Commission in producing the Windsor Report, the Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron said: “Given the standard of teaching adopted on human sexuality at the Lambeth Conference of 1998, how could the communion maintain the highest degree of communion possible in the face of the consecration of a Bishop whose lifestyle challenged that teaching” (New Directions, October 2004, page 20). Lambeth 1.10 is not only the standard of teaching on which the Windsor Report is based, but it has been regularly reaffirmed as the standard of the Anglican Communion by a number of Anglican Instruments of Unity in recent years.

In paragraph 16 of THE REPORT OF THE SPECIAL OMMISSION ONTHE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND THE ANGLICAN COMMUNIONit is noted that the Primates meeting at Dromantine underscored Resolution 1.10 of Lambeth 98 as ‘the standard of Christian teaching on matters of human sexuality’. However, this point is not picked up in the rest of the report and is not reflected in any of the currently proposed resolutions to General Convention 2006.
If the Episcopal Church is to truly embrace the autonomy-in-communion to which we are called by the Windsor Report, we need to affirm the mind of the Communion in the area of human sexuality.

Endorsed by: The Very Rev. John Burwell (South Carolina), The Very Rev. Mark Goodman (South Carolina)

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