The "Windsor Report 2004," released today in London by the Lambeth Commission on Communion is a document which explores in great depth the blessing, promise and difficulties inherent in the historic communion which the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion share.

The report specifically chronicles ways in which our communion has been strained severely by recent decisions and actions concerning ministry by various member provinces, including the decision within the Episcopal Church (USA) for the consecration of the bishop of New Hampshire. The members of the Commission, in their work, have offered ways for the Communion to move forward into future mission and life together.

Archbishop Eames, Chair of the Commission, in his introduction to the Report, states, "This Report is not a judgment. It is part of a pilgrimage toward healing and reconciliation." It is significant, I believe, that the Report is released on October 18, the day when we celebrate the life of Saint Luke, evangelist, physician and healer.

The Report itself is almost one hundred pages long. The Report does not offer quick fixes and instant remedies for the difficulties in the Anglican Communion. Nor does it attempt to address the theological controversy concerning persons in same-sex relationships. The authors carefully outline our historic relationship as churches in the Anglican Communion, define issues that have brought us into tension, and also suggest clear ways forward. They would move us into a renewed Anglican engagement.

The Report has a word for everybody. Provinces on all sides of these issues, including the Episcopal Church (USA), have been invited or called to express regret for the consequences of actions they have taken. The Report also affirms delegated episcopal oversight as an appropriate process for providing care for parishes which disagree with their bishops and for moving us toward reconciliation in Christ.

There are many other suggestions, and a proposal for an Anglican Covenant, in the Windsor Report. The Report must be read in its entirety. If it is to be a healing instrument, it must be discussed widely and deeply among our members and in the appropriate councils of the Church. That will take some time. For the edification of the members of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, I will ask that conversations about the Windsor Report be organized and arranged through our fourteen regional deaneries over the coming year.

I commend to our diocese the Windsor Report, and I commend with it the letter released today by our Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, for study and prayer and conversation. Our challenge is how we hold and live the truths we know about God and, when they differ significantly, how we maintain the unity of spirit for which Christ prayed and fulfill the mission for which we have been baptized.
The Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith
Bishop, The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut
October 18, 2004