- Introduction
1.1 The prophet Jeremiah declares that the leaders of his day ‘have healed the wound of my people lightly’ (Jer. 6:14, 8:11). It is a warning for our day too. We stand at a crossroads, and must ‘ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.’ (Jer. 6:16). The only basis for our walking together is to submit ourselves again to the sovereign authority of Holy Scripture in loyalty to the Anglican tradition and its formularies.
1.2 In 1 Peter, the book chosen for the bible studies at Lambeth 2022, we are gripped by the emphasis that the power of God unto salvation is experienced through the living and unchanging word of God (see 1 Pet. 1:23; cf Jn. 17:17; Rom. 1:16-17; Jude 3).
“You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” (1 Pet. 1:23)
2. Declaration
2.1 Anglican identity is first and foremost ‘grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer (1662), and The Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, annexed to The Book of Common Prayer, and commonly known as the Ordinal’.
2.2 Lambeth Resolution I.10 of 1998 is a test of faithfulness to this doctrinal standard because it explicitly applies the clear and historic teaching of Scripture to matters of sexual morality. The Resolution does not take its authority from the Lambeth Conference, but from Holy Scripture.
3. Affirmation
3.1 We affirm our commitment as Anglicans to being part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of God, our confidence in the gospel as Anglicans have received it.
4. The Need to Reaffirm Lambeth I.10
4.1 We are living at a time of great spiritual confusion and moral flux. The Church of Jesus Christ cannot afford to lose its moorings in Holy Scripture and drift with the world. We believe the Lord is ‘strengthening the bars of the gates’ of the city/community of His 2 people (Ps. 147:13) by guarding the truth of His word so that His church will indeed be ‘a light to the nations.’ (Is. 42:6; Acts 13:47).
5. The Resolution
5.1 As bishops gathered at the Lambeth Conference 2022, we reaffirm Lambeth Resolution I.10 Based on the need to establish clear doctrine on Marriage and Sexuality at this defining moment for the Anglican Communion, this conference: i. Reaffirms the biblical teaching of Lambeth Conference 1998 Resolution I.10 as follows: a. in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage; b. recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God’s transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ; c. while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex; d. cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions; e. notes the significance of the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Human Sexuality and the concerns expressed in resolutions IV.26, V.1, V.10, V.23 and V.35 on the authority of Scripture in matters of marriage and sexuality. ii. Urges that renewed steps be taken to ensure that all Provinces abide by this doctrine in their faith, order & practice.
