All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “ Abba, Father. ” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
2003 was a tempestuous year in the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church USA gave its canonical consent to the election of an openly gay priest, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson. In the Anglican Church of Canada, a Diocese authorized a liturgical rite for the blessing of same-sex unions. Responding to the outcry from many parts of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed a special commission to analyze the events and make recommendations for preserving unity amid disagreement. The commission's findings, published as The Windsor Report in October 2004 have generated as much controversy as the events that prompted them. But what does the report actually mean to the Episcopal Church? A comprehensive summary by Jan Nunley of the report and its aftermath puts those questions into context, while a conversational commentary organized around important themes by Douglas and Zahl, two very different voices, reflects on its recommendations and implications for the future of the church.