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http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/anglican_crisis/2007/09/15/32900.html
Anglican Leader in U.S. Over Gay Bishop
Saturday, September 15, 2007
LONDON -- It wasn't just a friendly invitation.
U.S. Episcopal bishops, fed up with Anglican criticism of their support for
gay priests, implored the Anglican spiritual leader to hear their side of
the story _ in person.
Starting Thursday, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will be in New
Orleans for that private talk, hoping he can hold together the increasingly
fractured world Anglican family.
"If anybody can do it, then somebody of the intellectual stature of Rowan
Williams could," said Mark D. Chapman, lecturer in systematic theology at
Ripon College Cuddesdon in Oxford, England. "But it is a very tall order."
Williams arrives in the U.S. facing a real danger that the global Anglican
Communion could break up on his watch.
The communion, a 77-million-member fellowship of churches that trace their
roots to the Church of England, has always held together members with
conflicting biblical views. But debate erupted into confrontation in 2003,
when the Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene
Robinson of New Hampshire.
Ever since, Anglican conservatives, concentrated mainly in developing
countries, have been pressing the Americans to promise not to consecrate
another gay bishop. The 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church is the Anglican
body in the United States.
Unlike the pope, Williams has no direct authority to force a compromise.
Instead, he listens, prays and seeks to persuade. "It's eroding and
exhausting," Williams recently told the National Catholic Reporter, an
independent U.S. weekly.
The upcoming U.S. visit has only heightened the pressure on Williams.
In a statement last month, Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, an outspoken
conservative critic of the U.S. church, condemned Williams' "failure of
resolve" to get Episcopal leaders in line. A week before Williams was due to
arrive in the U.S., two conservative-led Episcopal dioceses _ Pittsburgh and
Quincy, Ill. _ said they were taking the first steps toward breaking with
the American church and aligning with an overseas, like-minded Anglican
province.
Over the last two months in Kenya and Uganda, Anglican leaders consecrated
three former Episcopal priests as bishops, to minister to conservatives in
the U.S. Akinola has started his own conservative parish network, based in
Virginia, to rival the Episcopal Church.
Williams, 57, was enthroned as archbishop of Canterbury in 2003 with a
record of some support for gay priests. But as leader of the entire
communion, he has operated with the understanding that most Anglicans
believe the Bible bars gay relationships.
Liberals, who believe biblical teachings of tolerance and acceptance are
paramount, have been bitterly disappointed. They were outraged last May when
Williams said he would not invite Robinson to the Lambeth Conference, a
once-a-decade meeting of the world's Anglican bishops.
The Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, the Episcopal gay advocacy
group, said the decision showed "a disgraceful lack of leadership." Williams
"has allowed himself to be blackmailed by forces promoting bigotry and
exclusion in the Anglican Communion," she said.
A separate snub of Williams came from the theological right. Conservative
Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia, and his assistant
bishops, said they have delayed responding to their Lambeth invitations from
the archbishop of Canterbury, because they don't want to be at the table
with the U.S. bishops who consecrated Robinson.
Some Anglican leaders in Africa followed Sydney's lead, and raised an
additional complaint _ that Williams didn't invite a breakaway U.S.
conservative bishop, the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns. Minns leads Akinola's U.S.
mission, which violates communion tradition that leaders operate within
their own provincial territories.
At the New Orleans meeting, the Episcopal House of Bishops will weigh
demands from Anglican leaders that the U.S. church pledge not to consecrate
another openly gay bishop or authorize official prayers for same-sex
couples. If Episcopal leaders fail to agree by Sept. 30, they risk losing
their full membership in the communion.
No one expects Episcopal leaders to completely agree to those terms.
In March, the Episcopal bishops rejected a key demand that they give up some
authority to theological conservatives outside the U.S. church so that
conservative U.S. parishes would not have to answer to the church's national
leader, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. Schori supports Robinson
and blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.
At the time, Williams called the bishops' decision "discouraging."
Williams will spend Thursday and Friday behind closed doors with the U.S.
bishops, then will leave while they debate their next move. The Episcopal
bishops are expected to announce their decision before the meeting ends on
Sept. 25.
"My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible
on this," Williams said in April, when he announced he would meet with the
Americans. "If there is to be any change on the church's attitude on gay and
lesbian behavior then I would hope it would be a change of attitude on the
part of the church as a whole."
Anglican Leader in U.S. Over Gay Bishop
Saturday, September 15, 2007
LONDON -- It wasn't just a friendly invitation.
U.S. Episcopal bishops, fed up with Anglican criticism of their support for
gay priests, implored the Anglican spiritual leader to hear their side of
the story _ in person.
Starting Thursday, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will be in New
Orleans for that private talk, hoping he can hold together the increasingly
fractured world Anglican family.
"If anybody can do it, then somebody of the intellectual stature of Rowan
Williams could," said Mark D. Chapman, lecturer in systematic theology at
Ripon College Cuddesdon in Oxford, England. "But it is a very tall order."
Williams arrives in the U.S. facing a real danger that the global Anglican
Communion could break up on his watch.
The communion, a 77-million-member fellowship of churches that trace their
roots to the Church of England, has always held together members with
conflicting biblical views. But debate erupted into confrontation in 2003,
when the Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene
Robinson of New Hampshire.
Ever since, Anglican conservatives, concentrated mainly in developing
countries, have been pressing the Americans to promise not to consecrate
another gay bishop. The 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church is the Anglican
body in the United States.
Unlike the pope, Williams has no direct authority to force a compromise.
Instead, he listens, prays and seeks to persuade. "It's eroding and
exhausting," Williams recently told the National Catholic Reporter, an
independent U.S. weekly.
The upcoming U.S. visit has only heightened the pressure on Williams.
In a statement last month, Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, an outspoken
conservative critic of the U.S. church, condemned Williams' "failure of
resolve" to get Episcopal leaders in line. A week before Williams was due to
arrive in the U.S., two conservative-led Episcopal dioceses _ Pittsburgh and
Quincy, Ill. _ said they were taking the first steps toward breaking with
the American church and aligning with an overseas, like-minded Anglican
province.
Over the last two months in Kenya and Uganda, Anglican leaders consecrated
three former Episcopal priests as bishops, to minister to conservatives in
the U.S. Akinola has started his own conservative parish network, based in
Virginia, to rival the Episcopal Church.
Williams, 57, was enthroned as archbishop of Canterbury in 2003 with a
record of some support for gay priests. But as leader of the entire
communion, he has operated with the understanding that most Anglicans
believe the Bible bars gay relationships.
Liberals, who believe biblical teachings of tolerance and acceptance are
paramount, have been bitterly disappointed. They were outraged last May when
Williams said he would not invite Robinson to the Lambeth Conference, a
once-a-decade meeting of the world's Anglican bishops.
The Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, the Episcopal gay advocacy
group, said the decision showed "a disgraceful lack of leadership." Williams
"has allowed himself to be blackmailed by forces promoting bigotry and
exclusion in the Anglican Communion," she said.
A separate snub of Williams came from the theological right. Conservative
Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia, and his assistant
bishops, said they have delayed responding to their Lambeth invitations from
the archbishop of Canterbury, because they don't want to be at the table
with the U.S. bishops who consecrated Robinson.
Some Anglican leaders in Africa followed Sydney's lead, and raised an
additional complaint _ that Williams didn't invite a breakaway U.S.
conservative bishop, the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns. Minns leads Akinola's U.S.
mission, which violates communion tradition that leaders operate within
their own provincial territories.
At the New Orleans meeting, the Episcopal House of Bishops will weigh
demands from Anglican leaders that the U.S. church pledge not to consecrate
another openly gay bishop or authorize official prayers for same-sex
couples. If Episcopal leaders fail to agree by Sept. 30, they risk losing
their full membership in the communion.
No one expects Episcopal leaders to completely agree to those terms.
In March, the Episcopal bishops rejected a key demand that they give up some
authority to theological conservatives outside the U.S. church so that
conservative U.S. parishes would not have to answer to the church's national
leader, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. Schori supports Robinson
and blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.
At the time, Williams called the bishops' decision "discouraging."
Williams will spend Thursday and Friday behind closed doors with the U.S.
bishops, then will leave while they debate their next move. The Episcopal
bishops are expected to announce their decision before the meeting ends on
Sept. 25.
"My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible
on this," Williams said in April, when he announced he would meet with the
Americans. "If there is to be any change on the church's attitude on gay and
lesbian behavior then I would hope it would be a change of attitude on the
part of the church as a whole."
