Communion, Conflict and Hope

[karen freeinchristman]

http://www.aco.org/ministry/theological/iatdc/docs/communion_conflict_&_hope.pdf

I have yet to read it, as I'm at work now, but thought I would post this FYI.

:)

[karen freeinchristman]

From the table of contents alone, it looks like a really interesting document. :thumbsup:

[karen freeinchristman]

First good quote spotted:


What this Commission has concluded, and what it expounds in its report, is that diversity has always been a characteristic of the church, and that part of the vocation of Anglicanism is to demonstrate how deeper unity is discovered by addressing disagreements together.

[AngCath]

thank you for posting this for us... i'll read it at my earliest convenience.

[Polycarp1]

Karen and other friends here:--

As a practical matter, I do not download PDFs, as on my slow connection it can, quite literally, take the better part of an hour to download and open a large PDF.

But I would consider it a blessing if people would extract and quite the most pertinent matters from this, as Karen began doing in post #3.

Thank you for what you may choose to do.:)

[karen freeinchristman]

I'm happy to post extracts from it. Here are the table of contents:

Contents
Paragraphs Page
Foreword........................................................................................................................ 5
by Bishop Stepen Sykes, Chair of IATDC
Preface............................................................................................................................ 7
The Report
Part I : The Way of Communion
Communion in a Time of Transition......................................... 12 - 13 13
Communion as Communication................................................ 14 - 15 14
Communion in Process ............................................................. 16 - 20 15
Communion and the Future....................................................... 21 - 22 17
Part II : Testing Communion
Introduction ............................................................................... 23 - 24 19
“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”.......................... 25 - 27 20
The Holy Spirit and Fallibility in the Church........................... 28 - 30 21
Difficulties of Growth ............................................................... 31 - 33 22
Ambivalence in Anglican Ecclesiology .................................... 34 - 35 23
Change and Difference.............................................................. 36 - 44 24
Dynamic Catholicity ................................................................. 45 - 49 27
Resolving Conflict in Hope....................................................... 50 - 51 28
Virtues for Ecclesial Life .................................................................. 52 29
Part III : Sustaining Communion
The Experience of Communion ................................................ 56 - 58 31
Underlying Issues for Communion ........................................... 59 - 60 32
An Educational Resource ................................................................. 61 33
Consultative Communion: A Theology of Engagement
Issue 1: The Gospel and Scripture......................................... 62 - 73 34
Issue 2: Christian Living ....................................................... 74 - 80 36
Issue 3: Responding to the Gospel where we are ................. 81 - 91 38
Issue 4: The Limits of Diversity.......................................... 92 - 100 41
Issue 5: Life with Others ................................................... 101 - 107 44
Issue 6: Dispute Resolution ............................................... 108 - 116 46
Conclusion to Part III...................................................................... 117 48
4
Part IV : Conclusion: Hope in Communion
Changing Patterns of Communion ........................................ 118 - 119 49
Growth in Communion ......................................................... 120 - 123 49
Hope in Communion ............................................................. 124 - 125 51
Appendix I
The Communion Study as an Educational Resource ............................ 53
Four Key Questions for Anglicans World-Wide.................................... 53
The Six Propositions (or Statements) for Debate .................................. 53
Four Further Questions for Clarification ............................................... 55
Appendix II - The Anglican Way
Preamble................................................................................................. 57
Thesis 1: The bishop serves the koinonia of the gospel........................ 58
Thesis 2: The bishop’s evangelical office.............................................. 59
Thesis 3: The bishop is a teacher and defender..................................... 59
Thesis 4: The bishop has oversight........................................................ 60
Thesis 5: The bishop is called to co-ordinate the gifts.......................... 61
Thesis 6: The bishop serves the koinonia through care ........................ 62
Thesis 7: The bishop serves the koinonia through ministry.................. 62
Thesis 8: The catholicity of the episcopal office................................... 62
Thesis 9: The bishop serves the collegial life........................................ 64
Thesis 10: A diocesan bishop is given responsibility ............................ 65
Conclusion ............................................................................................. 65
Meetings & Members
The meetings of the IATDC................................................................... 67
The membership of the Commission..................................................... 68
Observers ............................................................................................... 69
Administrative Staff............................................................................... 69
Endnotes.............................................................................................................. 71

[karen freeinchristman]

:)


PART I
THE WAY OF COMMUNION: A Continuing Conversation
11. We have included within this report a narrative of our process, as we
believe that embedded within the narrative itself are helpful insights into
the way we have learned new things about the practice of Communion.
The Commission has not been conducting an opinion poll or presenting
a questionnaire, but engaging in a serious theological conversation. We
have been seeking to register the concrete experience of communion
among Anglican churches around the world, and to begin a process of
reflection on its meaning, especially in times of change and disruption.
And in offering, in this report, the story and fruits of this consultative
method, we are hoping to provide a model of how ‘communion in
action’ may be achieved. It is our conviction that the life of this
Commission and its method of working provides not only an important
indication of our understanding of the nature of koinonia, but also a
contribution to koinonia within the Communion’s own life.

[karen freeinchristman]

13. At the same time these realities also offer us particular challenges, as
members of a Communion which is called to privilege and stand
alongside those ‘on the edge’, since, according to the gospel witness,
that is where God himself chooses to be situated. Edges are important,
reminding us that local situations have much to teach any apparent
centre. The wind of the Spirit is blowing in new directions in our world,
and it is our task to follow - striving to keep up with this fresh breeze,
so that we can truly live together in the communion into which we are
being drawn by the Spirit. At such a time of change and disruption new
understandings of what gives coherence to the Christian community, and
the place of the Anglican Communion within it, are necessary - and that
is precisely what the ‘Communion Study’ has been exploring.

[karen freeinchristman]

Communion in Process
16. This report on the Communion Study attempts to capture important
threads of that conversation, synthesise them with its own reflections
(see Part III), and develop an argument which is based upon them (see
‘Testing Communion’, Part II paras 23-52). This is not a ‘Wikipediatheology’
in which any opinion can be offered - or contradicted. IATDC,
as an authorised body for theological study within the Communion
during the period of its remit, has sought to give shape and substance to
the whole process. Commission members have written papers relevant
to the theme of our work and consulted with other leading theological
voices in the Anglican Communion. At each stage of the process it has
given indications of its progress to the Anglican Consultative Council,
the Primates’ Meeting and the Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as
parallel bodies such as the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on
Ecumenical Relations and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on
Mission and Evangelism. It has taken seriously the need for a body
which is reflecting upon the importance of communion to express this
in a way which is properly accountable to the wider church.

[karen freeinchristman]

20. The contemporary world situation means that new understandings of
what it means to be part of one, holy, catholic and apostolic church are
necessary. The participative and communal way of studying the
meaning and sustaining of communion that IATDC has been developing
has the potential to disclose some of the ecclesiological ‘black swans’ -
understandings of the church and the world which (like black swans
which were unknown until discovered in Australasia) could not be
imagined from the perspective of European history alone! Not all of
God’s future can be extrapolated from a study of the past.7

[karen freeinchristman]

That's as far as I've got so far. Anyone else is welcome to post bits they find interesting.