I have often said that there are two, or indeed more than two, dialogues involved here.<\/p>\n
There is a dialogue with our diversity. We weave together in our lives and the make-up of our Church different strands of theological and church tradition. But it is the complex of issues around human sexuality above all which have the potential to turn that diversity from enrichment into division. Our Cascade process of dialogue shaped a space in which our diversity might be spoken and heard. It was a space for the kind of speech which is tentative because it is sincere and speaks of the deepest things in our lives.<\/p>\n
There is a dialogue with our tradition – with our reading of scripture, with our theology and with our social and moral teaching. We created another kind of space in the report of the Doctrine Committee – conceptual space for consideration of our tradition. We shall discuss that during this meeting.<\/p>\n
We are not yet in a legislative space – one in which we make canonical decisions. But we might say that this year we enter into a deliberative space when we decide whether or not we wish to consider change and what kind of change that might be.<\/p>\n
Most of all we need to discern what the spirit may be saying to us at this time – speaking to us through one another, speaking to us through scripture and our tradition of faith, speaking to us and challenging us through the extraordinary social changes taking place around us.<\/p>\n