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The gospel is about the way into the kingdom of God. The burden of Paul's statement is that you are negating the gospel, and so jeopardizing your own soul, if you continue to engage in any of these vicious lifestyles. And I say "continue to" because Paul then goes on to say, "and that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

So for those who have dissociated themselves from the acceptance of the gay lifestyle, they do so because it involves a denial of the gospel. As one who believes in the diving authority of the Scriptures, I am 100 percent with them.

Does this statement, in your mind, make schism less inevitable or simply delay it?

First of all the word schism seems to me to be prejudicial here. Schism is a technical term meaning causeless division, blameworthy division. What's envisaged and being feared is the separation of some parts of the Anglican Communion from other parts of the Anglican Communion, separation for conscientious reasons.

The statement is an interim statement; it asks for certain things to be done within 12 months. After which, presumably, the whole matter will be reviewed, I suppose by the primates. But this interim statement acknowledges, and I read the words, "If the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson proceeds, we recognize that we have reached a crucial and critical point of the life of the Anglican Communion and we have had to conclude that the future of the Communion itself will be put in jeopardy." It's in jeopardy now, and I don't think that the present statement, in light of the expectation that two weeks from now Bishop Gene Robinson will be consecrated, diminishes the likelihood of eventual separation in the least. The most you can say is that it postpones it. The primates have agreed to postpone the matter. I think that's what the statement announced: they agreed to postpone the matter for 12 months.

I infer that from the fact that "we," meaning all the primates consenting to the statement, "urge our provinces not to act precipitately on these wider questions." I don't think that means that specific groups of dissenting churches won't separate themselves from those in authority who embrace the gay lifestyle. It has happened in the diocese of New Westminster; a group of 11 churches has already done that. It may happen again. If it didn't happen in New Hampshire, I would be surprised.

But be that as it may, the primates, as primates, are agreeing to urge their provinces not to act precipitately as provinces. In other words, they won't themselves bring up the question of separation or declaring themselves out of communion or anything like that for 12 months until the commission that they've asked to be established has reported. That's the natural reading of the document. Who's to say whether an individual primate will cut loose? And under pressure you never quite know what's going to happen, even in the Anglican Communion.

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October (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47