A Pastoral Statement
to Lesbian and Gay Anglicans

from Some Member Bishops of the Lambeth Conference
Statement sponsored by the Rt Rev'd Ronald Haines, Bishop of Washington

August 5, 1998

Dear sisters and brothers,

The Lambeth Conference has spent nearly three weeks deliberating issues of human sexuality, among many other vital issues facing our world-wide Communion.  We have met in a climate of enormous diversity and have attempted both to articulate our views and listen carefully to those of others.

Within the limitations of this Conference, it has not been possible to hear adequately your voices, and we apologise for any sense of rejection that has occurred because of this reality.  This letter is a sign of our commitment to listen to you and reflect with you theologically and spiritually on your lives and ministries.  It is our deep concern that you do not feel abandoned by your Church and that you know of our continued respect and support.

We pledge that we will continue to reflect, pray and work for your full inclusion in the life of the Church.  It is obvious that Communion-wide we are in great disagreement over what inclusion would mean.  We ourselves have varied views and admit, as the report of the Human Sexuality Sub-section of the Conference says, that there is much we do not yet understand.  But we believe it is an imperative of the Gospel and our faith that we seek such understanding.

We call on the entire Communion to continue (and in many places, begin) prayerful, respectful conversation on the issue of homosexuality.  We must not stop where this Conference has left off.  You, our sisters and brothers in Christ, deserve a more thorough hearing than you received over the past three weeks.  We will work to make that so.

Faithfully,

Signatories to the Bishop’s Pastoral Statement

By 30th October 1998, there were 182 signatories, including 8 Primates.

Australia(12)

1. Phillip Aspinall, Adelaide
2. Gerald Beaumont, Perth - Goldfields/Country Region
3. Peter F. Carnley, Perth (Metropolitan)
4. Brian Farran, Perth - Northern Region
5. Ian George, Adelaide (Metropolitan)
6. Roger Herft, Newcastle
7. Peter Hollingworth, Brisbane (Metropolitan)
8. David Murray, Perth - Freemantle
9. John Noble, Brisbane - Northern Region
10. Richard Randerson, Canberra & Goulburn
11. Andrew St. John, Melbourne - Geelong
12. Ronald Williams, Southern-Region, Brisbaane

Brazil (1)

1. Glauco Soares de Lima, Sao Paulo (Primate)

Canada (17)

1. Michael Bedford-Jones, Toronto - York-Scarborough
2. David Crawley, Kootenay (Metropolitan)
3. James Cruickshank, Cariboo
4. Terence Finlay, Toronto
5. John Hannen, Caledonia
6. Fred Hiltz, Nova Scotia (S)
7. Andrew Hutchinson, Montreal
8. Michael Ingham, New Westminster
9. R Barry Jenks, British Columbia
10. Patrick V Lee, Rupert's Land
11. Percy O'Driscoll, Huron (Metropolitan)
12. Michael Peers, Canada (Primate)
13. Arthur Peters, Nova Scotia (Metropolitan)
14. Ralph Spence, Niagra
15. Ann Tottenham, Toronto - Credit Valley
16. Robert Townshend, Huron - Georgian Bay
17. Duncan Wallace, Qu'Appelle

Central Africa (2)

1. Khotso Makhulu, Botswana (Primate)
2. John Osmers, Eastern Zambia

England (42)

1. John Austin, Birmingham - Aston
2. Paul Barber, Peterborough - Brixworth
3. Gordon Bates, York - Whitby
4. Jonathan Bailey, Derby
5. David Bonser, Manchester - Bolton
6. Michael Bourke, Lichfield - Wolverhampton
7. Ian Brackley, Guildford - Dorking
8. Michael Doe, Bristol - Swindon
9. John Flack, Ely - Huntingdon
10. Richard Garrard,  Carlisle - Penrith
11. John Garton, Exeter - Plymouth
12. John Gladwin, Guildford
13. Laurie Green, Chelmsford - Bradwell
14. Christopher Hill, Lichfield - Stafford
15. Edward Holland, Chelmsford - Colchester
16. Rupert Hoare, Worcester - Dudley
17. William Ind, Truro
18. John Kirkham, Salisbury - Sherborne
19. Richard Lewis, St. Edmundsbury & Ipswich
20. Christopher Mayfield, Manchester
21. John Nicholls, Sheffield
22. John Oliver, Hereford
23. John Packer, Liverpool - Warrington
24. Stephen Pedley, Blackburn - Lancaster
25. John Richardson, St. Albans - Bedford
26. Henry Richmond, Derby - Repton
27. Barry Rogerson, Bristol
28. Roger Sainsbury, Chelmsford - Barking
29. Mark Santer, Birmingham
30. John Saxbee, Hereford - Ludlow
31. Colin Scott, Manchester - Hulme
32. Peter Selby, Worcester
33. Robin Smith, St. Albans - Hertford
34. Alan Smithson, Durham - Jarrow
35. David Stancliffe, Salisbury
36. Timothy Stevens, St. Edmundsbury & Ipswich - Dunwich
37. Humphrey Taylor, York - Selby
38. James Thompson, Bath & Wells
39. David Tustin, Lincoln - Grimsby
40. Peter Vaughan, Bradford - Assistant (R)
41. Dominic Walker OGS, Oxford - Reading
42. Frank Weston, Ripon - Knaresborough

Ireland (4)

1. Richard Clarke, Meath & Kildare
2. Edward Darling, Limerick & Killaloe
3. Robin Eames, Armagh (Primate)
4. John Neill, Cashel & Ossory

Japan (1)

1. James Uno, Kita Kanto

1. Sergio Carranza-Gomez,  Mexico

New Zealand (8)

1. Thomas Brown, Wellington
2. David Coles, Christchurch
3. George Connor, Waiapu
4. Penelope Jamieson, Dunedin
5. Murray Mills, Waiapu
6. David Moxon, Waikato
7. John Paterson, Auckland (Primate)
8. Waiohau Rue Te Harra, Aotearoa (Northern Region)

Scotland (6)

1. Bruce Cameron, Aberdeen & Orkney
2. Douglas Cameron, Argyll & The Isles
3. Neville Chamberlain, Brechin
4. Michael Henley, St. Andrew's Dunkeld & Dunblane
5. Richard Holloway, Edinburgh (Primate)
6. Gregor MacGregor, Moray, Ross & Caithness

South Africa (8)

1. Robin Briggs, Pretoria
2. Duncan Buchanan, Johannesburg
3. Merwyn E Castle, Cape Town (False Bay)
4. Geoffrey Davies, Umzimvubu
5. Christopher Gregorowski, Cape Town - Table
6. Njongokulu Ndungane, Cape Town (Primate)
7. Michael Nuthall, Natal
8. David Russell, Grahamstown

United States [ECUSA] (76)

1. Frank Allan, Atlanta
2. Harry B Bainbridge III, Idaho
3. Charles Bennison, Pennsylvania
4. Frederick H. Borsch, Los Angeles
5. David Bowman, Western New York
6. William Burrill, Rochester
7. Richard Chaing, Hawaii
8. John C T Chien, Taiwan
9. Michael Creighton, Central Pennsylvania
10. Clifton Daniel, East Carolina
11. Jane Holmes Dixon, Washington
12. Joe Morris Doss, New Jersey
13. Christopher Epting, Iowa
14. Richard Grein, New York
15. Gary Gloster, North Carolina
16. Clark Grew, Ohio
17. Edwin Gulick, Kentucky
18. Ronald Haines, Washington
19. Sanford Hampton, Olympia
20. Barbara Harris, Massachusetts
21. Donald Hart, Maryland
22. Dorsey Henderson, Upper South Carolina
23. Robert Ihloff, Maryland
24. Carolyn Irish, Utah
25. James Jelinek, Minnesota
26. Robert Johnson, Jr., North Carolina
27. Robert Johnson, Western North Carolina
28. David Jones, Virginia
29. David Joslin, Central New York
30. Charles Keyser, Armed Forces
31. Rustin Kimsey, Eastern Oregon
32. Chilton Knudsen, Maine
33. Jerry Lamb, Northern California
34. Edward Lee, Western Michigan
35. Peter Lee, Virginia
36. Edwin Leidel, Eastern Michigan
37. Mark MacDonald, Alaska
38. Alfred Marble, Mississippi
39. Larry Maze, Arkansas
40. Jack McKelvey, Newark
41. Mary Adelia McLeod, Vermont
42. Rodney Michel, Long Island
43. Robert Miller, Alabama
44. Robert Moody, Oklahoma
45. James Ottley, Panama (Resigned)
46. Steven Plummer, Navajoland
47. Neff Powell, Southwest Virginia
48. Kenneth L Price Jnr, Southern Ohio
49. Thomas Ray, Northern Michigan
50. Creighton Robertson, South Dakota
51. Hays Rockwell, Missouri
52. Catherine Roskam, New York
53. John Lewis Said, Southeast Florida (S)
54. Calvin Schofield, Jr., Southeast Florida
55. Tom Shaw, SSJE, Massachusetts
56. Richard Shimpfky, El Camino Real
57. Mark Sisk, New York
58. Bennet Sims, Atlanta (R)
59. William Smalley, Kansas
60. Andrew Smith, Connecticut
61. John Spong, Newark
62. William Swing, California
63. Chester Talton, Los Angeles
64. E Don Taylor, Assistant, New York
65. Frank Terry, Spokane
66. Robert Tharp, East Tennessee
67. Douglas Theuner, New Hampshire
68. John Thornton, Idaho
69. Martin Townsend, Easton
70. Orris Walker, Jr., Long Island
71. Vincent Warner, Olympia
72. Catherine Waynick, Indianapolis
73. Arthur Williams, Jr., Ohio
74. Geralyn Wolf, Rhode Island
75. Stewart Wood, Michigan
76. Wayne Wright, Delaware
77. Stewart Zabriskie, Nevada

Wales (5)

1. Dewi M Bridges, Swansea & Brecon
2. Alwyn Jones, St. Asaph (Primate)
3. David Huw Jones, St. David's
4. Barry Morgan, Bangor
5. Rowan Williams, Monmouth