Gareth Bezett

In the Nicene Creed, we say:

"We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church."

A New Zealand Prayer Book (ANZPB) says in the Catechism:

"It is one because it is one body, under one head, Jesus Christ. It is holy because the Holy Spirit dwells in its members and guides it in mission. It is catholic because it seeks to proclaim the whole faith to all people to the end of time. It is apostolic because it presents the faith of the apostles and is sent to carry Christ's mission to all the world."

For many, there is some tension between being one and being holy. The entirety of people professing to be Christian is enormously diverse. We have different practices and different beliefs in many areas, but what happens when those differences are in areas that some of us feel are fundamental, not inconsequential? This is exactly the situation that the Anglican Communion finds itself in today. Many, possibly the majority (at least of those in leadership), of Anglicans in North American feel that homosexuality is morally neutral or at least not a fundamental issue. For leaders in the "Global South" and other orthodox/conservative Anglicans, homosexuality is absolutely and possibly very wrong. Therefore the issue of consecrating homosexual bishops is an area of dispute.

The approach of +Rowan Williams and other moderates is to ask for restraint, asking North Americans to not do what they believe is right (or at least not wrong) in the interests of keeping fellowship and communion with the global Anglican church. This is something like what Paul recommends in 1 Cor 8 (if you believe that homosexuality is not an issue).

This is an approach that I support. However the flip side of this is that I cannot ask restraint of others and not exercise it myself. I might feel that blessing of same sex unions or lay presidency at the Eucharist are something the church in New Zealand should be doing, but we can't unilaterally start down these paths and object to others going down their preferred paths.