The Rev. Canon Philip Groves, the facilitator for the Anglican Communion’s Listening Process, told ENS that the goal of the day was for the bishops to have “safe space” in which “to genuinely talk and share what’s on their heart” and “genuinely sharing in one another’s dilemmas and struggles.”<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the day’s discussions, the bishops also watched a 10-minute film of people from all over the communion answering the first question from their perspective. About a third of the film’s audio was played for reporters. In that segment, among the opinions expressed were that homosexuality is an abnormality according to the creation story in Genesis, that “these people are also human,” and that “the marginalized of the most marginalized are welcome in the kingdom of God.”<\/p>\n
Williams encouraged the bishops to “go deep,” saying “we need to look at what we believe about human nature, human relationships and about God, God’s nature [and] God’s relationship with us.”<\/p>\n
“And we need dispassion, not in the sense of being cold and analytical about it but actually trying to see the question whole; not letting our emotions, our prejudices immediately dictate not only a conclusion, but also an attitude towards other people,” he added.<\/p>\n