''ORTHODOX" LOSE THE BATTLE OF LAMBETH 175-125
The Fifteenth Lambeth Conference concludes today, August 8, 2022. The touted civil war between the pro and anti homosexual rights factions in the Anglican Communion turned out to be a bust. The anti side came in roaring like a lion and left meowing as a kitten. The tally is now in. It is 175 for the pro side and 125 for the anti side.
The anti side at Lambeth was led by Archbishop Badi, of South Sudan. He claimed to represent the bishops of the Global South association of Anglican provinces, mostly African and Asian provinces. Their goal at the Conference was 1-to reassert the 1998 Resolution 1.10 as the universal teaching of the Anglican Communion, and 2-to enforce 1.10 on all Anglican provinces. They sort of gained the first and utterly failed on the second. On the first, everyone agreed that 1.10 was an historical fact. The issue of contention was not its existence. It was its enforcement. On this, the antis are leaving Lambeth in total defeat.
On August 7, Global South issued this PRESS RELEASE about the results of their "voting" scheme. On the 2nd of August, Badi had called on "orthodox" (anti-homosexual-rights) bishops to sign on to a statement reasserting 1.10 and calling for its enforcement throughout the Anglican Communion. They were to do so by a round-about system of emailing in pictures of ID badges. The results were announced on the 7th. No bishops' names were given, only provinces and numbers of followers. Of the 125 bishops who signed on, 51 were from South Sudan. They accounted for more than half the "worshipers" represented by the whole group (4m. of 7.9m). The large majority of bishops "voting" were from equatorial Africa.
If 650 bishops attended the Lambeth Conference, the 125 who endorsed this statement would account for less than a quarter of the meeting. There are approximately 900 bishops in the entire Anglican Communion. Since the "orthodox" bishops claim to be the majority of the Communion, one would not know it from the paltry numbers "voting" for their most important document of the moment. There is no stampede.
Even before the announcement of the results on the 7th, Global South published a communiqué calling on the anti side to organize for the promotion of 1.10. Find it HERE . This is nothing new. The anti-homosexual-rights coalition has been trying to divide up the AC for the past nineteen years, ever since the Bishop Gene Robinson affirmation of 2003.
In the battle of the statements, the pro side fired the first round. On 2 August, they issued a DECLARATION defending rights of homosexual persons. As of the 7th, 175 bishops had signed on, including 11 archbishops. The vast majority of the American delegation to Lambeth put in their signatures (including the bishop of SC).
Both sides indicated the war is not over. However, as of the end of the Lambeth Conference, the superior position goes to the pro side.
The final score is 175 for the pro side and 125 for the antis.
