As excerpted by Nigel Taber-Hamilton:

Page 4: "If one looks at the 1998 resolution [1.10].....it is obvious that it is a much harsher resolution than those passed in 1978 and 1988, for it says nothing about taking into account scientific and social factors [as asked for in those resolutions]. Whereas the contraception resolutions have become more permissive with time and resolutions on marriage have been expressed positively and not negatively, the opposite has been the case with resolutions on homosexuality."

Page 6: "There is no doubt that for all Christians the Scriptures are central and authoritative. Anglicans swear allegiance to their supremacy. That however is different from regarding them as being inerrant and infallible."

Page 7: "the books of the Bible are the inspired response to revelation, but the response is a human response and cannot be regarded as being identical with that revelation........Moreover Anglicans believe that we worship not a book but a person, the "living word of God, Jesus Christ to whom the written word bears witness". (Windsor Report p.54)......One also has to examine the logic and direction of the Bible as a whole and not pluck texts from it and use them legalistically."

Page 7-8: "There is a bias in the New Testament to inclusivity and those who have been excluded by others because of their sex, race, health or religion. Jesus' inclusive community consisted of women, children and those outside the cultic regulations - Gentiles. His ministry was one of hospitality and generosity to all whom he met. It could be argued that gay and lesbian people are the marginalized people of our age, because according to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement many refuse to attend any place of worship because they feel they are not accepted and welcomed."

Page 8: "The great cry of those who are against same sex relationships is that it is against Biblical morality and that Biblical morality is upheld if gayness is condemned. The question needs to be raised about the content of Biblical morality. C.S. Lewis argues in his books that the sins of the flesh are the least bad sins. He writes that the New Testament condemns spiritual sins such as "putting others in the wrong, patronising, backbiting, the pleasures of power and hatred far more harshly". "The cold self-righteous prig goes to church regularly and he may be nearer hell than the prostitute"."

Page 9: In baptizing Cornelius and his household "Peter realises that Gentiles do not have to become Jews first before they become Christian. In other words a seismic shift has happened in Peter's thinking and in associating with Gentiles and in baptising them he directly disobeys the Biblical prohibition"..thus.. "...the ritual and purity laws found in the Old Testament are seen as purely temporary and cultural and are set aside. Christianity becomes an inclusive community welcoming those not normally welcomed into the household of faith."

Page 10: "This has direct relevance to gay and lesbian people condemned by the cultic rules and purity codes of Leviticus. It can be argued that since the cultic rules and purity codes were put aside in accepting Gentiles so now Christians can put aside those codes which deal with sexuality."

Page 11: "All of this shows that there has never been a monochrome way of using and interpreting scripture. It is too simplistic therefore to argue that there is a traditional interpretation and a modern revised interpretation of scripture. Scripture itself is diverse."

Under a heading of "Cultural Factors"

Page 12: "If scripture re-interprets the tradition even within its own pages, that leaves the possibility open for the church to reinterpret its tradition as it has done on other issues e.g. the re-marriage of divorced people, its attitude to slavery, the ordination of women, and usury. At the Council of Vienne 1274 usurers were to be refused confession, absolution, and Christian burial. Few Churches follow that line today."

Page 13: "theologian Kortright Davies [says] "There is no universal theology; theological norms arise out of the context in which one is called to live out one's faith; theology is not culture free. Although the Gospel remains the same from place to place, the means by which the Gospel is understood and articulated will differ considerably"."

"Bishop Colenso, who was the cause of the calling of the first Lambeth Conference, was so partly because of his view that eternal punishment in hell was untenable. Few people would now want to disagree with him or see this as a communion breaking matter. In other words all theology reflects its context."

Page 14: "Different provinces come from totally different cultural contexts and this was highlighted for me in a recent Guardian article by Chimamanda Adichie shortlisted in 2004 for the Orange prize for literature. She says that in Nigeria literature is not regarded highly or read but Christian self help books are, such as 'God's plan for you', or 'The Richest Man in Babylon'. She argues that a new brand of Christianity came to the fore in the 1990's with a dictatorial government in Nigeria that seemed to focus on materialism and that saw riches as a direct reward from God."

Page 17: "There is also no doubt that the church in the Southern Hemisphere, for so long dependent on the church in the West, is beginning to flex its muscles."

"It is shocking to observe people from part of the traditional wing of the American church quite blatantly influencing the more conservative primates of provinces at every Primatial and ACC meeting, making an inflammatory situation potentially explosive."

Page 18: "Provinces have to realise that Lambeth resolutions have no constitutional or canonical authority and primates have to realise that they have no constitutional power to bind the whole Communion by their statements. The first Lambeth Conference of 1867 made it clear that it was not a general synod of churches in communion with the Church of England, and it did not enact canons."

Page 19 "...as the chairman of the ACC pointed out at its last meeting the Primates overstepped their authority in asking the representatives of ECUSA and Canada to withdraw from membership of that body. As he put it "a body which exists by means of a constitution agreed to by all the member churches of the Anglican Communion, and that is required by that constitution to be consultative cannot consult fully or properly if all its members are not sitting at the same table. It is surely not for one instrument of unity to disempower another"".

"There has to be a far deeper understanding of the nature of Anglicanism. It is about diversity in unity."

Page 20: "we have to respect and acknowledge the different cultures that exist within the Communion."

"Not only do we have to respect one another's geographical integrity but also one another's moral and theological integrity. And perhaps paradoxically the churches of North America can give us a lead since among their delegations to the ACC at Nottingham were people who did not agree with blessing same sex partnerships or the consecration of gay bishops but who nevertheless wanted to remain as members of those churches..."

Page 20-21 "The reviewer of George Newlands book "The transformative Imagination: Re-thinking intercultural theology", says, "the mistake of so much neo-conservatism is to think that Christianity is best served by hardliners and ideologues who will staunchly defend orthodox belief and practice. In fact, this merely turns the church into a purity cult, paranoid about the corruption of its sacred ideas and rituals". He goes on to say that, "unconditional love is at the centre of human flourishing and that Christianity is not a theory about God, nor a system of ideas but a living response to the God of Love and this is a transformative love that thrives on its engagement with the world and all its cultures".

Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan. To read the entire article click here.