An opportunity for grace in the Anglican Communion

Unless the provinces of the Anglican Communion and the four Instruments of Unity commit to learn and implement reasonable and appropriate ways of engaging one another, the deeper issues raised in the Windsor Report cannot be addressed. According to Bowen and Friedman's family systems theory, we must understand ourselves as a system that is currently highly anxious, mired in reactivity, and has no shared conceptual framework or process for dealing with this level of anxiety and conflict. We cannot, therefore, move into creative, constructive responsiveness, or thoughtful, faithful meeting in the Spirit. Using a systems theory framework, we can engage the theological and practical issues before us and experience the steadfast love of God that holds the holy mystery of our profound diversity-in-unity. The Windsor Report is a constructive document, an opening and opportunity for grace that gives the entire Anglican Communion a starting point for a crucial and necessary process through which the Communion can grow up in a mature and faithful way. This process will take intentional, focused, hard work over time. The Report is clear that the issues facing the Communion are broader and deeper than the actions of the 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church and of the Diocese of New Westminster (Anglican Church of Canada). Three general areas of consideration-polity, theology, and pastoral matters1-come from the fundamental question put to the Lambeth Commission: What does it mean to be Anglican and how can we live together as the Anglican Communion given the realities of our differences and diversity as a worldwide community of faith?2 As a Communion, we must take great care in determining what the primary issues are, in building skills and knowledge for responding, and in ordering our responses to those primary issues. The entire system of the Anglican Communion, at every level, seems to be awash in high anxiety;3 so I would argue that until and unless we first address the pastoral dimensions, we as a church can neither get to the issues of polity and theology, nor can we engage the opportunity and grace of the present moment. There has been no lack of reactivity4 to the Windsor Report, clearly indicating that the presenting issues are symptoms. We need to listen carefully to hear the deeper things they are telling us5-from wherever in the current conflict we stand-and to respond to one another at this systemic, pastoral level in ways that promote healthy, lively, and faithful mutuality, responsibility, and accountability under the guidance of the Spirit.6 This process, which is biblically, theologically, and missionally sound, will move us from reactivity to a responsive, constructive embodiment of faith in the best sense of the Anglican tradition. These brief remarks focus on the pastoral dimension of the Windsor Report in terms of systems theory and a still-developing communion/fcomonz'a ecclesiology of unity-in-diversity. This is not to say that the presenting issues are not important; however, there is far more going on that is antecedent to them. The systemic and ecclesiological challenges we now face are much exacerbated by the absence of clear definitions of roles, relationships, status, and authority for the structures; and of clear expectations, understandings, agreements, and processes for the ways we live together.7 We have reached a level of complexity in our system that requires more formal and explicitly agreed-to structures, understandings, and processes than we now have.8 One aspect of the widespread reactivity has been to assert and act as if formal understandings, structures, and processes were in place.9 Such a move creates emotional barriers to constructive responses and thoughtful engagement together. Our current anxiety and reactivity indicate a failure to function healthily within the emotional systems of the Communion and the provinces. Therefore, we are not able to respond faithfully to the fundamental issues in ways that will strengthen the Communion for the life and work to which God calls us. …

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