The Windsor Report 2004: The Lambeth Commission on Communion

The Lambeth Commission, established by the Archbishop of Canterbury, was charged with examining the legal and theological implications flowing from the Episcopal Church's decision to appoint a priest in a committed same sex relationship as a bishop and the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster's authorization of services for same sex unions. It was also charged with examining and making practical suggestions about how the provinces of the Anglican Communion may relate when they feel unable to remain in full communion with one another.

The report focuses on reconciliation. The Primates’ Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion called the commission’s unanimous endorsement of the report “a sign of hope.” “If there is a real desire to walk together in our discipleship of Christ,” the Primates’ Committee said in a statement, “then a course can be plotted to maintain the highest degree of Communion possible, in spite of differences about the way in which Christ’s Gospel is to be interpreted in a diverse and troubled world.”