The ‘Listening Process’ on homosexuality is not closed in The Episcopal Church, according to an official report filed recently with the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). Reports have been received from most of the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces.

“There continues to be a spectrum of opinions within the church,” the report states. “Listening has no preconceived outcome other than to hear the voice of God in the present context. It is built on the common ground of commitment to God’s mission and our baptismal covenant. It requires safe ground for people to express themselves in their vulnerability in order for the discontinuity between what we proclaim and how we are heard and experienced to be clear. It requires serious engagement with the Bible.”

The 1998 Lambeth Conference of Bishops called for member churches of the Anglican Communion to listen to the experience of homosexual persons. The mandate for listening was reaffirmed in 2005 during the ACC meeting in Nottingham, England. Representatives to that meeting approved Resolution 12, which called for the ACC secretary general to collect and make available statements and study material on homosexuality which have been developed by member provinces.

In January 2006 Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams appointed the Rev. Canon Phil Groves as facilitator for the Listening Process. To date 32 of the 38 provinces have submitted official reports which have been published on the ACC website. The provinces which have not filed reports to date are: Bangladesh, North India, South India, Rwanda, Southeast Asia and Tanzania.

“The response to listening has not been to reject the Bible, but to understand it in a deeper manner,” the report submitted by The Episcopal Church states. “To Set Our Hope on Christ affirms the biblical understanding of sin rooted in idolatry, but does so in the context of the new understanding of what homosexuality is.”

In contrast to the submission by The Episcopal Church, the report submitted by The Church of Nigeria views homosexuality as an “abominable deed.” The report notes that the House of Bishops in The Church of Nigeria has supported a proposed state law which if approved by the Nigerian legislature would, among other provisions, ban same-sex unions, the formation of homosexual advocacy groups and “prevent wholesale importation of currently damaging Western values.”

While recognizing the sinfulness, from the biblical perspective of homosexuality, “we must continue to keep open the door of restoration for homosexuals through repentance on the one hand, and sensitive pastoral care on the other,” the Nigerian Church submission states. “The Church is clear that all people are sinners and need to repent. What it will not do is bless sinful lifestyles.”

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