Lambeth Conference 2022: Anglican bishops asked to reaffirm Lambeth 1.10
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An orthodox fellowship of Anglicans is asking bishops at the Lambeth Conference to reaffirm Lambeth 1.10 as the "official teaching of the Anglican Communion on marriage and sexuality".
Resolution 1.10 was passed at the 1998 Lambeth Conference and upholds marriage as a union between a man and a woman for life, while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture.
At the 2022 Lambeth Conference taking place this week in Canterbury, Kent, formal resolutions have been replaced by 'Calls' on topical issues.
A reaffirmation of Lambeth 1.10 was dropped from the Call on Human Dignity after a backlash by liberal bishops.
In response, the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) has issued a resolution of its own for bishops to sign.
The invitation to support the resolution has also been extended to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who met with GSFA members on Saturday.
The GSFA resolution "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".
It rejects homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture and "cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions".
A final clause urges all Anglican provinces to take renewed steps to abide by this stance.
In the preamble to the resolution, GSFA Chairman Archbishop Justin Badi said: "Anglican identity is first and foremost grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church.
"Lambeth Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference 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."
Commenting on the decision to issue the resolution, Archbishop Badi said: "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.
"Based on the need to establish clear doctrine on marriage and sexuality at this defining moment for the Anglican Communion, this conference must reaffirm the biblical teaching of Lambeth Conference 1998 Resolution 1.10."
