ST: No gay Anglican bishops, if new plan gets backing (Jul 28)

July 28, 2008
No gay Anglican bishops, if new plan gets backing
LONDON - HOMOSEXUAL clergy will be barred from becoming bishops in the
Anglican communion under controversial new plans backed by the
Archbishop of Canterbury.

Liberals will be warned that they face expulsion from the heart of
Anglicanism unless they respect the ban, London's The Sunday Telegraph
reported yesterday.

An American church caused deep divisions between conservatives and
liberals when it consecrated Mr Gene Robinson as the first openly gay
Anglican bishop in 2003. There have been reports that it is prepared
to consecrate more homosexual bishops.

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, told the Telegraph that he
would be willing to do the same.

The proposal to ban future consecrations is the most significant move
yet over the issue.

A paper on the issue, commissioned by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams, will be debated by 650 bishops today at the ongoing Lambeth
conference, the once-a-decade gathering of the Anglican Communion.

The debate is set to start the first real clash of the conference,
with liberal bishops expected to fight any attempt to curb their
autonomy, said the report.

However, Dr Williams is determined to impose tighter governance of the
77-million-member Anglican Communion to try and hold it together.

The paper, titled How Do We Get From Here To There?, says it is vital
that an Anglican Covenant be agreed so that churches around the world
will be mutually accountable and united by a common set of beliefs.

This must happen as soon as possible, it says, to prevent further
haemorrhaging of the Anglican Communion over the issue of homosexual
clergy. And until a consensus is reached, American and Canadian
churches must refrain from consecrating more homosexual bishops and
carrying out blessing services for same-sex couples, it says.

If the conference agrees to the recommendations, it will give Dr
Williams a mandate to exclude rebel churches.

Liberals in the Church of England who have stood by the American
church will be dismayed by this return to a conservative position.

Dr John Saxbee, the Bishop of Lincoln, said that while he supported
dialogue, he was opposed to the idea of a covenant. 'We need to be a
broad Church offering hospitality to everyone,' he told the Telegraph.

ST: Anglican leader calls for moratorium on gay bishops (Aug 5)

Aug 5, 2008
Anglican leader calls for moratorium on gay bishops

LONDON - ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury Rowan Williams, struggling to hold
together the troubled global Anglican family, has urged church leaders
not to consecrate another gay bishop, saying the fellowship will be in
'grave peril' without a moratorium.

In his final speech at the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference on Sunday,
Dr Williams said Anglicans needed 'space for study and free discussion
without pressure' about whether to accept changes in traditional
biblical understanding of same-sex relationships.

He also asked churches to refrain from adopting official prayers for
blessing same-gender unions.

'If the North American churches don't accept the need for moratorium,
then, to say the least, we are no further forward,' he said at a news
conference ending the 20-day assembly in Canterbury. 'That means, as a
communion, we continue to be in grave peril.'

The 77 million-strong Anglican Communion has been splintering since
2003, when the United States Episcopal Church consecrated the first
openly gay bishop, the Reverend Canon Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Dr Williams barred Rev Robinson and a few other bishops from the
meeting and designed the event without legislation or votes, instead
focusing on rebuilding frayed relationships.

Still, more than 200 theologically conservative bishops boycotted the
gathering, upset that Dr Williams had invited Episcopal leaders who
consecrated Rev Robinson.

In June, just before Lambeth began, those same conservative bishops
formed a new global network within the communion that challenged Dr
Williams' authority but stopped short of a permanent split.

Dr Williams does not have the authority to force an agreement among
the conflicting groups.

The 38 Anglican national churches, including the US Episcopal Church,
are self-governed and loosely connected by shared roots in the
missionary work of the Church of England.

The 650 bishops at Lambeth said in a statement, however, that 'there
is widespread support across the communion' for an extended moratorium
on gay bishops and on blessing ceremonies for same-gender couples.

'A fellow Christian may believe they have a profound fresh insight,'
Dr Williams said in his final address. 'But the Christian with the new
insight can't claim straight away that this is now what the Church of
God believes or intends.'

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued a brief
statement that did not address the requested bans. She said the
communion 'is suffering the birth pangs of something new' and urged
patience in the church.

The communion is the third-largest religious group in the world,
behind Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

Many Protestant churches are also struggling with how they should
interpret what the Holy Scriptures say about gay relationships and
other issues.

Catholic Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council
for Promoting Christian Unity, spoke at Lambeth, urging the bishops to
maintain Christian tradition.

Vatican and Anglican officials have been in talks for years about
reunifying - an effort complicated by the Church of England's recent
move to accept female bishops.