“The Windsor Process”

The Anglican Communion web site's Windsor Process pages note that the Windsor Process has "four main elements: an Anglican Covenant, the Listening Process, the Panel of Reference and the Windsor Report 2004." Each element has its own web page and links to relevant materials.

While these pages are a tremendous resource to the Communion at large, the Windsor Process pages at etdiocese.net are meant to assemble the major resources and news reports to assist East Tennessee Episcopalians as they follow and interpret the controversies.

Supplemental resources list includes books, study guides, links to downloadable materials and more.

Four "Instruments of Communion" guide relationships among the Anglican Communion's member provinces. They are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops and the Primates' Meeting. Information about each is available through links from the main Web page of the Anglican Communion.

Membership in the Anglican Communion is a matter determined by each province's direct formal relationship with the See of Canterbury. The Episcopal Church is among 38 member provinces of the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members in 164 countries.

At its General Convention in 2003, the Episcopal Church gave its consent to the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson is an openly gay man in a long-term committed relationship with another man. The General Convention also recognized "that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions," and it committed the church to continued study and discernment on the issue, including the compilation of existing resources by a special commission.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, in response to uproar in other Provinces over these actions and decisions of other Provincial members on similar matters, appointed a Lambeth Commission on Communion. This 17-member international panel was to explore the nature of communion and look specifically at how interrelationships are maintained amid differing views and practices among Anglicans, including varied understandings of human sexuality. The Commission released the final report of its work, the Windsor Report, on Oct. 18, 2004.

At its General Convention in 2006, the Episcopal Church House of Bishops elected the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, bishop of Nevada, as presiding bishop. Many Anglican provinces do not ordain women, and TEC is the first to elect one as a Primate. Also controversial in some circles are the presiding bishop's viewpoints, such as her support of full inclusion.

The Anglican Communion's member churches continue the process of receiving and responding to the Windsor Report; considering whether they can support an Anglican Covenant, and if so, in what form; and evaluating to what degree their differences should have impact on the Communion as a whole.

Discernment and Response
Reverse Chronological Highlights

The Common Cause Leadership Council, Dec. 19: A group of "orthodox" Anglicans who began coming together in 2004 announced they would, over the next 15 months, build an "Anglican union" with hopes of official recognition by Anglican primates and provinces.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dec. 14: An Advent letter directed to the Anglican Primates examines the current crisis, describes his definition of "a full relationship of Communion" and suggests "two courses of action."

Primates and ACC members, Nov. 20: Responses to a letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury following attendance at the House of Bishops' meeting in New Orleans were tabulated and compiled into this report.

The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, Oct. 28: The Council responds to the Draft Anglican Covenant, section by section.

CAPA Primates communique, Oct. 5: African Primates issue communique finding JSC report "unsatisfactory."

The Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC, October: The JSC members who traveled to New Orleans to meet with the House of Bishops released their report to the Archbishop of Canterbury on Oct. 2.

The House of Bishops, September: The Episcopal Church's bishops engaged in discussions with the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Anglican Communion representatives during their fall meeting in New Orleans. The bishops released a response to the Primates, and the communion's representatives commented.

Global South Primates' steering committee, July: A group of Anglican Communion primates from the Global South issued a statement warning they will continue to exercise authority over dissident Episcopal congregations.

The Anglican Consultative Council, June:The appointed facilitator for the ACC's "Listening Process" met at General Theological Seminary with a group assembled by Integrity USA to hear viewpoints and experiences.

The Executive Council, June: The council called a Covenant Response Group of its members, passed Resolution NAC023 and produced a letter declining to respond to the Primates' requests, saying only General Conventon could speak for the Episcopal Church.

The House of Bishops' Theology Committee, June: Released a guide, "Communion Matters" to assist its members in discussions about such a covenant within their dioceses.

Nigerian Primate Peter J. Akinola, May: Rejected requests from both Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and proceeded to install his Bishop Martyn Minns as leader of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.

The House of Bishops, March: The bishops listened to two presentations by members of the Covenant Design Group on March 19 during their spring meeting. The bishops responded to the Primates' requests with three Mind of the House resolutions on March 20, and on March 21, the bishops released a "Message to God's People.”

Primates Meeting, February: In the first meeting of the Primates in the new presiding bishop's tenure, a group formed to examine the idea of an Anglican covenant reported to the primates. The Primates' Communique, issued at meeting's end, addressed a range of matters from the MDGs to theological education to the Episcopal Church's response to the Windsor Report, and it asked TEC House of Bishops for specific outcomes by Sept. 30.

The Executive Council, March 4: Empowered to act on the church's behalf between meetings of the General Convention, the council released a "Letter to the Church."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, March 5: "Pastoral Letter to the Primates."

Sources: Episcopal News Service, the Episcopal Church, Anglican Communion News Service, the Anglican Communion

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