With approximately one month remaining before publication of the Lambeth Commission on Communion report and with a House of Bishops’ meeting scheduled to occur before then, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold wrote a letter in which he sought to reassure his colleagues about the trustworthiness of the commission and encouraged them to await patiently whatever its recommendations might be.

The Sept. 17 letter followed a number of widely circulated reports in several British newspapers that the Episcopal Church would be “disciplined” in some form or another.

“At this moment — in the absence of clear information as to the contents of the report — speculation and rumors abound,” Bishop Griswold wrote.

In June, Bishop Griswold said, when he gave testimony during the commission’s meeting at the Kanuga Camp and Conference Center in Hendersonville, N.C., he and others from the Episcopal Church Center observed a commission that was caring, thorough and broadly representative. “In short, as a body, they should be considered trustworthy, having as their concern the unity, faithfulness and wellbeing of the Communion in the service of God’s mission.” Second, he noted, the commission mandate is not a referendum on homosexuality, but rather “how do we make decisions as a Communion? How do we govern our common life? What means do we have for either consultation or restraint?”

Communion is God’s gift to humanity and therefore of paramount importance, Bishop Griswold said. Quoting from a recent speech by the Most Rev. Barry Morgan, a member of the commission and Archbishop of Wales, Bishop Griswold noted, God has given this Communion people very different from ourselves. What God has given, we dare not spurn.

(From The Living Church, Oct. 10, 2004)