Oasis California News Blog

A Crucial Moment for Anglicans

2008-07-19T03:41:00.001-07:00

For centuries, Anglicans have prided themselves on finding the via media -- the middle way -- through theological and political thickets.

But the decades-long debate on homosexuality within the worldwide Anglican Communion seems stuck in a cul-de-sac, many say.

As Anglican bishops from around the world converge on Canterbury, England, for the three-week Lambeth Conference that began Wednesday, their 77 million-member communion again finds itself at a crossroads.

"The circle has come around again," said the Rev. Ephraim Radner, a leading North American theologian who is helping draft a new constitution for the communion.

The once-a-decade conference, held at the University of Kent, will draw more than 650 bishops, including an estimated 135 from the communion's U.S. branch, the Episcopal Church. Spread across 162 countries, Anglicans trace their common historical and liturgical roots to the Church of England.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the communion and the one who issues invitations to Lambeth, said this year's conference will feature bridge-building, not rulemaking.

Such rules are of little value, Williams has said, because each of the communion's 38 autonomous provinces makes and enforces its own laws.

For example, a resolution passed at the last Lambeth Conference, in 1998, called homosexual acts "incompatible with Scripture" and condemned same-sex relationships.

Five years later, the Episcopal Church elected and consecrated an openly gay priest, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. Meanwhile, blessings of same-sex couples in Canada and the United States continue. Robinson joined with his longtime partner in a civil union in June.

To placate conservatives, Williams did not invite Robinson to Lambeth, but the New Hampshire bishop will be in Canterbury to advocate for gay rights.

Conservatives, a powerful bloc in the communion, say the time for dithering is over. They want clear doctrinal standards barring homosexuality and the power to enforce them. If the U.S. church is not disciplined, the Anglican Communion must be radically rearranged, they say.

"They see this as the very last chance," said the Rev. Kendall Harmon, a conservative leader from the Diocese of South Carolina. "If the [North American churches] aren't stopped, the breach won't be healed."

Last month, about 280 conservative bishops from Africa, Asia and North America met in Jerusalem and pledged to sideline Williams and the Episcopal Church by creating a powerful new council of archbishops and a new province in the United States. About 200 of the bishops, mainly from Africa, are boycotting Lambeth, saying they won't meet with their liberal colleagues.

But this year's Lambeth Conference has been designed to discourage resolutions that would discipline the United States and Canada. Small group discussions and a "mind of the communion" document at the conference's conclusion Aug. 3 will replace plenary sessions and parliamentary debate.

The Rev. John Peterson, former general secretary of the Anglican Communion, who helped plan the 1998 Lambeth Conference, said a conference without resolutions "has been the desire of every archbishop of Canterbury, ever."

But that desire has rarely been fulfilled, Peterson said.

Liberal and moderate Episcopal bishops have their own game plans for Lambeth.

San Francisco Bishop Marc Andrus said part of his mission began last week when he explained to fellow bishops gathered at a church in Wales why he supports gay rights. Amid anti-gay hostility and the spread of AIDS, gay men and lesbians "have found the Episcopal Church is one place where they're welcome," Andrus said in a telephone interview.

Gay advocacy groups, such as Integrity USA, will attend "fringe events" on the conference's outskirts. Andrus said that "bishops like myself will be inviting and urging fellow bishops to hear their story."

Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington said Anglicans should focus on global missions, including the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, which aim to cut poverty, disease and hunger significantly by 2015.

Episcopal bishops will also seek help to stop overseas archbishops from adopting Episcopal parishes. Dozens of conservative U.S. churches -- and the entire diocese of San Joaquin, Calif. -- have seceded from the Episcopal Church to join more like-minded Anglican provinces.

A Crucial Moment for Anglicans
Washington Post, United States

Episcopal officials query priests in breakaway diocese

2008-07-18T14:47:00.001-07:00

Officials at the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin in Stockton are asking 110 priests and deacons in the diocese to clarify whether or not they wish to remain in the U.S. Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Church and Bishop John-David Schofield have been at odds since Schofield led a secession movement prompted in part by the church's ordination of women and an openly gay bishop.

Schofield leads the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, which is affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. That province also includes Anglican churches in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

The Episcopal Church filed a lawsuit in April and expanded it in June to attempt to reclaim property from the breakaway diocese.

In letters mailed July 10, Bishop Jerry Lamb of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin asks priests and deacons to clarify whether they want to remain, or not remain, clergy in the Episcopal Church and "adhere to their ordination vows."

Nancy Key, communications coordinator for the Episcopal diocese, says this isn't a head count; rather, the diocese hopes to clear up questions. "We have confirmed some, but we have other clergy besides them who, we believe, want to be part of the Episcopal diocese," she says.

Lamb also gives an option to priests and deacons to clarify that they no longer want to exercise their ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church and be removed "for reasons not affecting my moral character." It leaves the door open for them to return to the Episcopal Church, Key says.

The priests and deacons have until Aug. 5 to submit their answers. Key says Lamb isn't sure what he plans to do with the responses from priests and deacons. Lamb currently is attending the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, which began Wednesday and ends Aug. 3.

Lamb "says it's one step at a time," according to Key. "We'll have to figure what to do. It could involve legal action, but nobody wants that."

Episcopal officials query priests in breakaway diocese
The Olympian, WA -

Archbishop of Canterbury opens Lambeth 2008

2008-07-17T16:55:00.001-07:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams opened the Lambeth Conference to the sounds of South African Alleluias and prayers for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He spoke to the gathering of Anglican Bishops from around the world addressing the first plenary session of the Lambeth Conference yesterday (July 16) He stressed that the Conference had a very strong emphasis on drawing together round the Bible and had been designed as a place "in which every voice can be heard and in which we build Christian relationship".

He said that his own prayer and hope for the Conference "is not that after two weeks we will find a solution to all our problems but we shall as I have written more than once in some sense find the trust in God and one another that will give us the energy to change in the way God wants us to change. That is the most important thing we can pray for, the energy to change as God wants us to change individually and as a Communion."

Some Bishops have chosen to stay away although only one Province (Uganda) has no Bishops present. Dr Williams acknowledged this fact, "I think it's important I should say that it's a great grief that many of our brothers and sisters in the Communion have not felt able to be with us for these weeks, a grief because we need their voice and they need ours in learning Christ together."

Dr Williams said that – as he had written to many people in recent months – "I respect and accept the decisions that have been made but together we need in prayer to acknowledge the wound that that makes in our fellowship" and, " that we still have to mend relations that have been hurt. I hope that in these weeks we shall daily be remembering those who are not with us upholding them in our prayers, in our respect and love."

He continued: "I don't imagine that simply building relationships solves our problems but the nature of our calling as Christians is such that we dare not, and I say very strongly, dare not pretend that we can meet and discuss without attention to this quality of relation with each other even if we disagree or find ourselves going in different directions. The Lord of the Church commands that we must love one another in the process and there is no alternative to that. I trust that you are here in that confidence, in that willingness to love one another."

The Archbishop added that this sounded "so simple" but it had to be said "because we know as we meet that we are also a wounded body." He added there were no magic words to heal those wounds "but as we seek to meet Jesus Christ in each other we hope that the wounds that are still open will in some sense also be open to receive the work of God the Holy Spirit in our work."

Dr Williams concluded his address by encouraging the bishops who are now in retreat until Sunday morning "to be there and let God come to you".

Lesbian Appeals Firing From Publicly-Funded Baptist Group Home In Kentucky

2008-07-17T16:53:00.001-07:00

Rights of Taxpayers To Challenge Government Funding Of Religion At Stake

The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a brief today in a federal appeals court urging the court to allow a discrimination lawsuit to go forward on behalf of a lesbian who was fired from her job at a publicly-funded Baptist group home in Kentucky. The home for vulnerable children required the woman to observe its religious belief that being a lesbian is sinful. The brief also charges that taxpayers should be able to challenge the state of Kentucky's decision to give public funds to a home that imposes its religious beliefs upon the children in its care.

"I put my heart and soul into helping the children who were under the care of Baptist Homes and was making a difference in their lives," said Alicia Pedreira. "It was unfair to be fired for being a lesbian. It's not right that an organization that is funded by state and federal dollars to do work for the state can get away with this."

The ACLU and Americans United filed the lawsuit on April 17, 2000, on behalf of Pedreira charging that it was unlawful for the publicly-funded Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children (since renamed Sunrise Children's Services) to fire Pedreira because she did not observe her employer's religious beliefs about sexual orientation. The complaint also charges that it was unconstitutional for the state to spend taxpayer dollars to fund a religious organization that attempts to indoctrinate children placed under state care with its religious beliefs. After years of litigation, the district court dismissed the case on March 31, 2008. The legal groups appealed that decision to the Federal Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and are urging the court to allow the case to proceed.

"This case illustrates the all-too-real dangers of the government funding religious organizations without adequate safeguards," said Ken Choe, a Senior Staff Lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. "The Constitution's promise of religious freedom guarantees that the government won't preference one form of religion over another. Yet that's exactly what happened to Alicia Pedreira, who was fired because she didn't conform to the religious beliefs of her government-funded employer."

The lower court dismissed Pedreira's discrimination claims finding that Pedreira didn't suffer religious discrimination because Baptist Homes did not require her to believe that being a lesbian is sinful, but merely required that she observe its religious belief that being a lesbian is sinful. In the brief filed today, the legal groups note that this interpretation of the law would mean employers are free to discriminate against all employees who fail to conform all aspects of their lives to the religious beliefs of the employer. Workers could be fired for dancing, eating meat, receiving blood transfusions, marrying someone of another faith and for serving in the military.

The brief also charges that the lower court misinterpreted a recent Supreme Court decision by ruling that Pedreira and other taxpayers are barred from bringing a challenge against the state for awarding state funds to Baptist Homes with state funds in violation of constitutional guarantees against government funding of religion.

"Kentucky Baptist Homes is on a mission to evangelize on the taxpayers' dime," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United. "The Constitution simply does not allow this. Faith-based charities that want to indoctrinate youths should not get public funds."

The brief argues that the taxpayer plaintiffs meet all the long-held qualifications for challenging the state's decision to give state funds to a religious-based organization that has frequently touted its success in converting wards of the state to Christianity. The brief notes that the 2007 Supreme Court decision, Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, that the lower court relies upon to justify dismissing the claims clearly stated that it applied only to discretionary Executive Branch expenditures, not funds authorized by a legislature.

"The trial judge was way off base in dismissing this case on legal technicalities," added Americans United Senior Litigation Counsel Alex J. Luchenitser. "If this wrong-headed ruling is allowed to stand, it will eviscerate the rights of taxpayers to challenge public funding of religion."

The brief cites a report by the Children's Review Program, a private contractor hired by Kentucky officials to monitor programs for children. The report noted numerous instances where young people complained about being forced to attend Baptist services or said they were not permitted to attend services of other faiths.

The brief says, "Baptist Homes uses its public funding to indoctrinate youths – who are wards of the state – in its religious views, coerce them to take part in religious activity, and convert them to its version of Christianity, and does so in part by requiring its employees to reflect its religious beliefs in their behavior."

In addition to Choe and Luchenitser, the legal team representing Pedriera includes Americans United Legal Director Ayesha Khan; ACLU attorneys James Esseks, David Friedman, Daniel Mach and William Sharp; ACLU cooperating attorney Vicki Buba of the Oldfather Law Firm in Louisville, KY, attorneys David Bergman, Joshua Wilson, Elizabeth Leise, Alicia Truman, Lea Johnston, and Alessandro Maggi of the international law firm Arnold & Porter LLP; and Washington, D.C. attorney Murray Garnick.

A copy of the brief is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/discrim/36038lgl20080717.html

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams opens the Lambeth ...

2008-07-17T09:57:00.001-07:00

Dr Williams said that – as he had written to many people in recent months – "I respect and accept the decisions that have been made but together we need in prayer to acknowledge the wound that that makes in our fellowship and to acknowledge also as I must do myself that we still have to do to mend relations that have been hurt. I hope that in these weeks we shall daily be remembering those who are not with us upholding them in our prayers, in our respect and love.

He continued: "I don't imagine that simply building relationships solves our problems but the nature of our calling as Christians is such that we dare not and I say very strongly dare not pretend that we can meet and discuss without attention to this quality of relation with each other even if we disagree or find our selves going in different directions. The Lord of the Church commands that we must love one another in the process and there is no alternative to that. I trust that you are here in that confidence in that willingness to love one another."

Dr Williams concluded his address by encouraging the bishops who are now in retreat until Sunday morning "to be there and let God come to you".

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams opens the Lambeth ...
Anglican Communion News Service, UK

Pastors defy United Methodist officials to conduct gay weddings

2008-07-17T02:52:00.001-07:00

Scores of United Methodist Church ministers in California are putting their careers on the line in an open revolt against religious edicts that forbid them to conduct weddings for gay and lesbian couples.

The pastors could lose their jobs and clerical credentials in the church, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.

Ministers in Santa Monica, Claremont, Walnut Creek and other cities have already performed ceremonies for gays and lesbians or are planning to do so.

In addition, 82 retired pastors in Northern California signed a resolution in June offering to perform such weddings on behalf of ministers who feel they can't do so themselves.

Pastors have been emboldened by United Methodist assemblies in California that declared their support last month for the state Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning a ban on same-sex marriage.

The regional assemblies -- composed of lay leaders and clergy from California and other states -- also urged pastors and congregations to "welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture" for gay couples.
Pastors defy United Methodist officials to conduct gay weddings
Los Angeles Times, CA

Beyond Episcopals' theological split, a property fight

2008-07-17T02:50:00.001-07:00

When a congregation breaks away from a denomination, who keeps the real estate?

That's become a contentious issue within the Episcopal Church – the US branch of Anglicanism – as almost 100 parishes have voted to leave the church in the wake of its 2003 consecration of a gay bishop. Most aim to stay in their houses of worship while realigning themselves with conservative Anglican bishops in other countries.

On Wednesday, Anglican bishops from around the world gather in Britain to discuss their differences over scriptural interpretation and homosexuality at the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference. But in America, those differences are already ending up in court.

The stakes are high. Not only are some of the properties valuable, the legal battle over them is wrenching apart close-knit religious communities. Presbyterians and other denominations are keeping a close eye on the wrangling because they also have conservative congregations that are trying to pull out in response to actions of their denominations.

So far, the courts have not clarified the issue. Some congregations have had to forfeit their houses of worship. But on June 27, a Virginia county court upheld the constitutionality of a Civil War-era state law that would allow 11 congregations to leave the Episcopal Church and take their property with them. The law, called the "Division Statute," provides that when evidence exists that a church is in a state of "division," the local congregation can decide who controls the property.

"We see the ruling as a validation of the stand we have taken – these are properties our parishioners have paid for and maintained over the years," says Jim Oakes, vice chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, an association of breakaway congregations now linked to the archbishop of Nigeria.

But canon law of the Episcopal Church, like those of several US denominations, stipulates that all property is held in trust for the denomination and not owned by the local church. When congregations choose to leave, control of church property reverts to the diocese.

Church law "provides that property of the church at any level is held in trust for the Episcopal Church – a very important canon in a hierarchical church," says Stephen Hutchinson, a canon law expert of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. (Representatives of the national church declined the opportunity to comment.)

The Virginia ruling is worrying other denominations with similar structures. The decision is "deeply troubling" and "a violation of the First Amendment," Bishop Charlene Kammerer, leader of the United Methodist Church in Virginia, said in a statement.

The local congregations involved, which voted in December 2006 to pull out, include parishes of considerable historical value, such as Falls Church, where George Washington was a member, and nearby Truro Church, wealthy and prestigious congregations with properties together worth an estimated $25 million.

The tug of war has been wrenching.

"The reality is that this is a tightly knit community and it's absolutely heartbreaking," says Henry D.W. Burt, secretary of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, which sued, along with the national office, to retain the properties. "A lot is at stake here, including the freedom of Virginia churches to organize themselves in ways related to their religious beliefs." The Virginia diocese has vowed to "continue to pursue every legal option available." The county judge will rule on a few remaining issues, before any formal appeal can be made.

A few dioceses have avoided litigation by negotiating and selling the local property to a departing congregation. When Christ Church in Plano, Texas – one of the largest Episcopal parishes in the country – voted to leave in 2006, the bishop of Dallas Diocese reached a settlement by which the congregation paid $1.2 million for the property. In other cases, the national church or a congregation has sued to hold onto the land and real estate.

In California, the breakaway St. James Church in Newport Beach won in county court, but later lost on appeal. The case has been consolidated with several others in the state and is now before the California Supreme Court. That court will resolve differences in how lower courts reviewed the cases.

US Supreme Court rulings of the past permit a court to choose between two alternative approaches in making such decisions: (1) defer to the hierarchy, if the congregation belongs to a hierarchical church; or (2) apply neutral legal principles in examining church documents.

Cases are pending in other states.

The church confronts another thicket of difficulty: Two entire dioceses are seeking to pull out, taking their parishes and assets with them.

In December 2007, the Diocese of San Joaquin in central California voted to split off and align itself with the conservative Anglican leadership of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina. The Episcopal House of Bishops voted to remove the diocesan bishop and replace him with another. The archbishop of the Southern Cone insists they cannot do so because he is no longer under their jurisdiction. The church is suing its former bishop and seeking to have assets frozen.

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is expected to vote this fall on a similar "realignment." Bishop Robert Duncan, a key leader among US traditionalists, has formed a new corporation with the same diocese name outside the Episcopal Church. The church says it is not possible for a parish or diocese to leave, only individuals.

Beyond Episcopals' theological split, a property fight
Christian Science Monitor, MA

US bishop hits out at 'demonic' African church leaders

2008-07-17T02:44:00.001-07:00

An influential US bishop has attacked African leaders for treating him and his church as a "punchbag".

The Right Rev John Chane, the Bishop of Washington, said neither he nor the Episcopal church deserved the treatment, accusing the leaders of "demonic and dangerous" behaviour.

Christian clerics from Africa have criticised US liberals for encouraging progressive practices including the ordination of gay priests and the blessings of same-sex unions, calling them apostates and blaming them for causing a schism in the Anglican Communion.

The schism has led to many African clergy snubbing Lambeth, the once a decade gathering of Anglican's bishops.

It began in Canterbury with the arrival of 650 bishops and their spouses yesterday.

In Jerusalem last month, conservatives launched the Global Anglican Future Conference, a splinter movement for traditionalists.

Angered by their criticism, Chane denied that the Episcopal church was guilty of leading the Anglican communion into error.

"I think it's really very dangerous when someone stands up and says: 'I have the way and I have the truth and I know how to interpret holy scripture and you are following what is the right way,'" he said "It's really very, very dangerous and I think it's demonic.

"The Episcopal church has been demonised. It has been a punching bag, and I'm sick of being a punching bag as a bishop and I'm sick of my church, my province being a punching bag."

He made the remarks in Battle of the Bishops, a BBC2 documentary to be aired on Monday evening, which follows key churchmen from the US and Africa as they prepare for Gafcon.

In the programme the archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, known in his home country as the Hammer of God, is seen hitting out at figures such as Chane.

"Gafcon is a rescue mission – it is our duty to rescue whatever is left of the church from error," Akinola said.

"From all those, whoever they are, who have chosen to mutilate, to distort and to even deny the gospel and to preach something different from what we know."

Another Nigerian, Benjamin Kwashe, the archbishop of Jos who is tipped to take over from Akinola when he steps down in 2010, said:. "Respect is earned. When it is thrown away, gathering it can be difficult.

"From the mother Church of England, there is the assumption that therefore we can do anything and Africans will automatically come with us, or respect us.

"I think that is an insult. The wider Anglican world, if you ask my opinion, doesn't want to listen to us."

Despite African church leaders pledging to boycott Lambeth, figures released by organisers show that some are overruling their superiors by attending the summit.

More than 75% of Anglican bishops worldwide have registered for the conference, representing 36 of the 38 provinces of the communion.

One bishop from Kenya - whose primate, Benjamin Nzimbi, is a Gafcon leader - has been photographed enjoying the hospitality of the bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch.

Alice Nzimbi, the archbishop's wife, has been involved with planning the spouses' conference, a parallel event for wives and husbands in Canterbury.

Only one Nigerian bishop, the Right Rev Cyril Okorocha, has so far flouted the boycott, although a Lambeth official said more may arrive under cover.

"Even though African archbishops have issued this blanket ban, there is nothing to stop individuals from coming here," the official said.

US bishop hits out at 'demonic' African church leaders
guardian.co.uk, UK

Lambeth Updates

2008-07-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

1. Check out my Lambeth Blog @ http://lambethtcj.blogspot.com/

2. Check out the Lambeth News Blog @ http://lambethblog.blogspot.com/

3. Join in by sending your Letter to Lambeth @ http://letterstolambeth.org/

Thanks!

Tom Jackson

GBT ADVOCACY GROUPS FROM UK AND US WILL GATHER TO PRAY FOR BISHOPS OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION AT START OF LAMBETH CONFERENCE

2008-07-16T16:22:00.001-07:00

CANTERBURY, UK—Changing Attitude UK and IntegrityUSA will co-sponsor an outdoor celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Sunday, July 20th, 2:30 pm BST, at Beverly Meadow (also known as St. Stephen's Field) in Canterbury. A map is attached.

The Rev'd. Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude UK, will preside. The Rev'd. Susan Russell, President of IntegrityUSA, will preach. The Rt. Rev'd. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, will attend with several other American bishops. All are welcome.

Both Changing Attitude UK and IntegrityUSA will offer prayers that the worldwide Anglican Communion will soon fully accept, include, welcome, and offer equality to the LGBT faithful.

Members of the media must check in at the press table at the entrance to the meadow. Colin Coward, Susan Russell, and some American bishops will be made available for interviews and comments following the service.

Gay Episcopal bishop sees hope for progress

2008-07-16T15:48:00.001-07:00

Almost exactly five years after he was elected as the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson remains the most controversial Christian in the world.

His consecration as the first openly gay, partnered Anglican bishop launched a global conversation about sexuality in Christianity and divided the Anglican Communion, the largest Protestant body in the world with 77 million members.

Yet what he is doing now may be more radical: Robinson is traveling the country and the world to talk more openly and more publicly than ever about his faith.

<< Audio of interview with Bishop Robinson >>

Gay Episcopal bishop sees hope for progress
San Francisco Chronicle, USA -

Former Bishop of San Joaquin 'withdraws' from Lambeth after Archbishop of Canterbury reportedly suggested "it is better that he not attend"

2008-07-16T15:19:00.001-07:00

The recently deposed and now former Episcopal Bishop of San Joaquin. John-David Schofield will not attend the Lambeth Conference.

But the real Episcopal Bishop of San Joaquin, the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb will attend.

David Virtue reports Schofield 'withdrew' after Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams wrote Primate of the Southern Cone, the Most. Rev. Gregory Venables, and "made it clear that while he affirms the ministry of Bishop Schofield, it is better that he not attend."

Virture writes that "In his letter to Schofield, Williams wrote: 'I understand that Bishop John-David Schofield has been accepted as a full member of the episcopal fellowship of the Province of the Southern Cone within the Anglican Communion and as such cannot be regarded as having withdrawn from the Anglican Communion. However, it is acknowledged that his exact status (especially given the complications surrounding the congregations associated with him) remains unclear on the basis of the general norms of Anglican Canon Law, and this constitutes one of the issues on which we hope for assistance from the Windsor Continuation Group. BishopSchofield has elected to decline the invitation to the Lambeth Conference issued to him last year although that decision does not signal any withdrawal from the Communion. I hope there may be further careful reflection to clarify the terms on which he will exercise his ministry.'"

Virture tried to put a positive spin on the unexpected development, saying the deposed bishop was "thrilled to learn that Archbishop Williams continues to recognize him as a bishop in good standing and in communion with the See of Canterbury."

If true, the Archbishop of Canterbury's action dissuading Schofiled's participation could open the door to reconciliation among the bishops at Lambeth.

Africa’s Anglican bishops silent on graft at home

2008-07-16T15:02:00.001-07:00

Robert Kalumba

These are interesting times for the Anglican Church. If it is not grappling with the issue of gay bishops, then it's the consecration of women bishops. And do not forget the so-called conservatives, who are losing their patience with the Archbishop of Canterbury ,Dr Rowan Williams, over his supposedly soft stance on 'gayism'! But what is this obsession about sex among the Anglicans?

More than 1,300 bishops are threatening to abandon the Church of England, if it goes ahead to approve the consecration of women bishops - which the church has done. Then, there was the Jerusalem bishops meeting where Archbishop Luke Orombi, among others, pledged to form a council of bishops to provide an alternative to churches they said were preaching "false gospels" of sexual immorality.

But is life only about homosexuality, and women priests? There are many people who are impressed about the debate on the finer points in the Anglican Church; the issues of gender in terms of the apostolic character of the episcopate, the problem of how best to interpret Leviticus XVIII, 22 ("You must not lie with a man as with a woman"), and the status of the Archbishop of Canterbury within the post-colonial Anglican communion.

However, there is a feeling that humankind is not really bothered by many of the issues that are rocking the Anglican church. They are actually more concerned about things like how and where to get their next meal.

In Zimbabwe, for instance, it's how and when President Mugabe will leave power that is their major concern, not gayism or women bishops. In Uganda, issues of major concern include President Museveni's interest to stand as president in the 2011 elections, the LRA war, mile akenda, biting poverty and school fires!

Retired Bishop Dr George Sinabulya says he is not bothered about the issue of women bishops - he actually supports the consecration of women as bishops. However, he says the gay issue irks him to the core. He says, "The Bible clearly states that God doesn't like such behaviour, hence the Sodom and Gomorrah scenario".

Whereas it's a good thing for the African church to defend the faith, the big question is, isn't the church not being hypocritical by choosing to defend the Bible and not condemning African leaders most of whom have caused suffering and poverty to their people. Ins't it a fact that most Africans suffer from even curable diseases, illiteracy etc. because of the continent's bad leaders?

For instance in Uganda where there is chronic corruption, what has the church as proof of their disapproval of what is going on? I thought corruption is a vice that condemned by the Bible (see Thou Shall Not Steal)! Are some sins considered heavier than others? Is homosexuality more of a sin than stealing?

A sin is a sin in God's eyes? For example, why don't African church leaders boycott or stop swearing-in of politicians to office, never mind whether such politicians are corrupt or unfaithful to their spouses?

In my view, church leaders should not be selective - they should condemn all vices whether at home otherwise with a passion - they shouldn't ignore some issues and harp on others. Secondly, why should the Anglican Church face a possible schism over homosexuality and women bishops?

Can't there be another way out of the impasse, apart from breaking up? If the Anglican Church is bent on tearing itself apart, then that is sad. However, before that happens, the bishops should first consider the implications of their actions.

Mr Kalumba is a journalist
arkalumba@yahoo.com

Africa's Anglican bishops silent on graft at home
Daily Monitor, Uganda

Bishops 'weakening body of Christ' in row over gays and women

2008-07-16T15:00:00.001-07:00

Conservative bishops have been accused of breaching their duties and damaging the welfare of Christians as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, fights back against his critics.

Anglican bishops arriving for the Lambeth Conference yesterday were told to stop their backstabbing and in-fighting if they were not to "weaken the body of Christ".

A background paper distributed to 650 bishops and archbishops attending the ten-yearly conference in Canterbury told them to remember that their relationships with each other were "fragile and tainted by sin".

Anglican rows over ordaining gay priests and women bishops were damaging for "all the baptised", it said. But the most stinging criticism was for conservative bishops, of whom 230, mainly from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda, are boycotting Lambeth.

The paper, commissioned by Dr Williams, made clear that bishops who had transgressed diocesan and provincial boundaries in search of "orthodox" primacy were considered guilty of undermining collegiality. An even worse sin, it suggested, was boycotting the conference.

The warning was published in the Lambeth Reader, a document intended only for delegates but seen by The Times. "Given the present state of the Anglican Communion it is the special collegial responsibility of the bishop to be at prayer for and with fellow colleagues," the paper said.

"This is particularly relevant for those bishops who are in conflict with one another. Their failure to attend fervently to this ordinal vow weakens the body of Christ for which they have responsibility. This in turn weakens the bonds that all the baptised share with one another."

The paper, written by the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission, represents the start of the fightback by Dr Williams, who has been accused of showing inadequate leadership.

Bishops 'weakening body of Christ' in row over gays and women
Times Online, UK

Bishop Gene Robinson reflects on ever present threats

2008-07-16T02:25:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the sun-kissed grounds of a London church, U.S.Bishop Gene Robinson reflected in sombre mood on what it meant to be the first openly gay bishop in the 450-year history of the Anglican church.

Robinson, a divorced father of two, has received death threats and wore a bulletproof vest at his consecration back in 2003. Two uniformed police officers stood guard last month as he entered into a civil partnership with his longtime partner. He was heckled when preaching in London over the weekend.

"I take the threats very seriously, I have to," he said. "But I am not interested in being a martyr, I just want to be a bishop."

Robinson's visit to Britain concides with the Lambeth Conference, the ten-yearly meeting of bishops from the worldwide Anglican Communion, but he has not been invited to attend. So he has several speaking engagements outside of the conference, including a sermon at Saint Mary's Church in the Putney section of London on Sunday where he urged Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to show firmer leadership and get conservative foes to tone down homophobic taunts.

In an interview with Reuters, there was no hiding the disappointment in his voice when talking about Williams' decision not to invite him. And he repeated that he felt it was high time Williams took a stand against Conservative opponents who taunted him with homophobic mockery.

"There is no place in the Christian Church for someone to say Satan has entered the church with my consecration or that gay people are lower than dogs," the 61-year-old bishop said. "You cannot say those kind of things about gays and lesbians people and then be shocked when there is violence against them," he said.

Clearly exasperated with a navel-gazing church obsessed with its own internal problems, he said human sexuality was an important issue but added "I would agree with many Africans that there are so many more important things to be dealing with."

But he was clearly proud of what he had achieved in trying to sweep hypocrisy away, saying: "I would like to think I have raised the issue of how destructive 'Don't ask, Don't tell' can be."

Bishop Gene Robinson reflects on ever present threats
Reuters UK, UK -

Paul Vallely: Why the Pope is not rejoicing at the split

2008-07-16T02:11:00.001-07:00

The Pope might be expected, privately, to be rejoicing at the splits in Anglicanism. He might be expected to issue an open invitation for disgruntled Anglicans to join the Church of Rome. Instead, he is trying to bolster the beleaguered Archbishop of Canterbury.

Why is he doing this? Rome is playing a very long game here which began in 1966 when Pope Paul VI took off his ring and gave it to Dr Williams' predecessor Michael Ramsey. It was a gesture of huge symbolic importance.

In the past four decades, the relationship between Rome and Canterbury has markedly deepened. Years of talks, despite a setback on women priests, have produced joint statements on the eucharist and authority which laid the basis for healing the rift of the Reformation.

The Pope now fears this is at risk. He worries that the Church of England, which for centuries has prided itself on being both catholic and reformed, could mutate into hardline Protestantism.

He is at one with Dr Williams on this. The two leaders have a strong personal empathy and share a deep and sophisticated theology. Both emphasise the importance of reason as well as faith.

The Pope feels more in common with him than he does with theologically primitive and doctrinally ideological evangelicals who share his objections to homosexuality or women bishops. Both men see preserving unity as key and the Catholic bishops in England have warned Rome about the deeply factional nature of Anglican politics. A number of the Anglicans who moved to Rome when women were ordained brought with them a rancorous divisive mentality.

Which is why those Anglican bishops who recently approached the Vatican to ask if traditionalist C of E parishes could migrate en masse to Rome, under an Anglican liturgical rite, were sent off with a flea in their ear.

Paul Vallely: Why the Pope is not rejoicing at the split
Independent, U

Pope rides to Rowan's rescue

2008-07-16T02:07:00.001-07:00

The Pope is leading an unprecedented drive by the Roman Catholic Church to prevent the fragmentation of the worldwide Anglican Communion ahead of the once-a-decade gathering of its 800 bishops, which begins today, The Independent has learnt.

In his first public comments on the Lambeth Conference, Pope Benedict XVI has warned Anglican leaders that they must find a "mature" and faithful way of avoiding "schism". On top of this the Pope has:

* Sent three cardinals to the conference in Canterbury, including one of his top aides from the Vatican, to act as personal intermediaries between the two churches;

* Let it be known that he does not support the defection of conservative Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church;

* Given behind-the-scenes support to the Archbishop of Canterbury's attempts to hold together the conservative and liberal wings of the Anglican Church, including at face-to-face meetings in Rome.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, faces a near-impossible task as he prepares to preside over the conference, at which bishops from around the world are gathering today for prayer and reflection. The Archbishop is hoping to keep the conference focused on substantial issues facing the church and the world, but it is overshadowed by disputes over women bishops and homosexuality. ...

* Sent three cardinals to the conference in Canterbury, including one of his top aides from the Vatican, to act as personal intermediaries between the two churches;

* Let it be known that he does not support the defection of conservative Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church;

* Given behind-the-scenes support to the Archbishop of Canterbury's attempts to hold together the conservative and liberal wings of the Anglican Church, including at face-to-face meetings in Rome.

Pope rides to Rowan's rescue
Independent, UK

A new wave of gay seminarians prepares to take the pulpit

2008-07-15T15:39:00.001-07:00

It was late November in 2004 and Lauren Wendt was on her way to a Wednesday-evening church service. As she walked up the concrete steps and entered through the white doors of the brick-faced Ascension Lutheran Church, she was ready to pray. She enjoyed her work volunteering for a church-based immigration and refugee service in Maryland, but moving to a new city had made her lonely. Although she thought about dating, she was used to being single—she'd been that way all throughout college.

The walls inside the church were soft blue, the carpet red, and the pews a brilliant shade of colonial white. Gathered inside were about 30 churchgoers in their mid-twenties. A group of skinny boys and girls at the front tuned guitars and set up drums as they prepared to play Christian rock to accompany the service.

After taking the pulpit, the pastor encouraged the parishioners to stand and introduce themselves to each other. Wendt enjoyed this part. She has a firm handshake, a pleasant grip that squeezes without hurting. Her green eyes smiled as she basked in the fellowship.

The service went along at a brisk pace—communion, songs, and sermon. As the band began to play its final song, Wendt rose to her feet. She reached her arms out from her sides, closed her eyes, and began to pray.

She went deep within herself. The music faded. And she heard a voice.

"Go to seminary," it said.

Wendt felt a calming presence descend on her body. The voice seemed to embrace her from head to toe. She was sure it was God.

Then he added: "And you're gay. Get over it."

A new wave of gay seminarians prepares to take the pulpit
Minneapolis City Pages, MN

'I was a gay priest'

2008-07-15T15:27:00.001-07:00

Rows and acrimony dominate in the media, but what is it like to actually be a gay priest in the Church of England? Philosopher Mark Vernon, who left his job as a clergyman, gives his view.

One of the paradoxes of the row over homosexuality in the Anglican church is that there have been, are, and always will be gay priests. Many gay priests. I know. I was one.

But that paradox - or better, absurdity - shouldn't detract from the seriousness of the message being championed by Bishop Gene Robinson. He is the first openly gay and "partnered" bishop in the Anglican communion and is in the news because he has been barred from attending the Lambeth Conference as a bishop.
'I was a gay priest'
BBC News, UK

The irony missed by Christian homophobes is that the gay US bishop is sustained by a faith you could call fundamentalist

2008-07-15T02:18:00.001-07:00

The emails have been coming in all day. My favourite begins: "Dear sodomite supporter, you are nothing but a dirty sodomite-loving ugly stain of a man who is a disgrace to humanity." It ends "Burn in hell, Mr K." Well, thank you for that, Mr K. I have had a fair number of letters and emails from people who think like you. One suggested that I ought to be executed at Tyburn. Another graphically described the details of fisting.

My crime had been to offer the Bishop of New Hampshire a pulpit to preach the word of God. I usually have the emotional hide of a rhino, but even I was upset by the unpleasantness of the reaction, hiding my hurt in a few too many vodkas at lunchtime. How on earth does Gene Robinson cope with the disgusting abuse to which he is subjected most days – the protester who interrupted his sermon in my church on Sunday being a pretty mild example? Day after day, buckets of spiritual shit are thrown at him, sometimes by fellow bishops, and he just keeps going.

Spending some time with him over the last few days, I have discovered how he does it. He is the real deal. He is a believer. Responding to attacks that he had a "homosexual agenda", he insisted: "Here and now, in St Mary's Church, Putney, I want to reveal to you the homosexual agenda. The homosexual agenda is: Jesus." He went on to preach a fiery, almost revivalist, sermon, calling on Anglicans to take Jesus into their heart and to allow Him to cast out their fear.

What makes this person so interesting is that he has lost any sense that he is able to support himself spiritually through his own effort alone. His recognition of his "failure" to cope is precisely his strength. The theology is pure Luther: only when you recognise that you are unable to make yourself acceptable to God under your own steam can you collapse back upon God as the sole source of salvation. Later in the sermon, he described going from a meeting of the US House of Bishops to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, and being relieved that, at this second meeting, he could at last speak about God.

Forget what you think you know about Gene Robinson – his is Gospel Christianity of a very traditional kind. This is what Christianity looks like once it has got over its obsession with respectability.

The irony missed by Christian homophobes is that the gay US bishop ...
guardian.co.uk, UK

What does the Bible really say about homosexuality?

2008-07-12T23:46:00.001-07:00

By Ed Marriott
When Canon Gene Robinson was consecrated as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, the world's first openly gay Anglican bishop, such was the ferocity of the opposition from right-wing evangelicals that he was forced to wear a bulletproof vest for the ceremony. Tomorrow he appears at the Southbank Centre in London, to be interviewed by Sir Ian McKellen for the UK premiere of For the Bible Tells Me So, a US documentary about homosexuality and the Bible.

This week sees the start of the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of all Anglican bishops worldwide, to which Robinson 'has not been invited'. Not only Robinson will be absent. About 300 bishops opposed to homosexuality are boycotting it.

So does the Bible condemn homosexuality? Or is scripture neutral, as Christian liberals believe? Let's have another look.

On 'abomination'

According to Leviticus 18:22: 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.' But Daniel Karslake, director of For the Bible Tells Me So, says the word 'abomination' comes from the Hebrew word 'to'evah', meaning contrary to ritual. 'Leviticus was the holiness code, designed to further the tribe of the Jewish nation. Which is why it didn't look very kindly on men having sex with men, since sex was needed for procreation.' Nothing, in short, about divine judgement.

On Sodom and Gomorrah

This story, in Genesis 19, tells of the attempted gang rape of two 'angels', sent by God to see if any good people remained in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah after their inhabitants had revoked the important law of the welcoming of strangers - and of God's subsequent destruction of the cities. But the point about this story is that it's about punishment for inhospitality, a grave misdemeanour in Jewish society. Nothing about judgement over sexual orientation.

On 'unnatural relationships'

In Romans 1:26-27, speaking of idolators in the Greek and Roman world, Paul writes: 'The men also abandoned natural relationships with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.' Although this verse has often been used as a licence to gay-bash, it's likely to have been intended to focus Christians' minds on the importance of procreation.

Why any of this matters

Karslake says the church, at least in the US, has so demonised gay and lesbian people that countless young gay people have committed suicide.

What Jesus says about homosexuality

Nothing. That's right: not one thing.

What does the Bible really say about homosexuality?
guardian.co.uk, UK

Gay bishop will preach in London

2008-07-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

The world's first openly gay bishop, whose ordination caused a split in the Anglican church, is to preach to a congregation in London.

The UK visit by Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire, comes as members of the Anglican communion gather for the Lambeth Conference.

Bishop Robinson has been excluded from the event, held every 10 years, but will be in Canterbury at the same time.

He is due to speak at St Mary's Church in Putney, west London on Sunday.

Anglican conservatives set up a splinter movement earlier this month, in rejection of the acceptance of gay bishops.

Members of the Global Anglican Future Conference movement established the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.

Last week the General Synod, the Church of England's ruling body, voted in favour of legislation aimed at introducing women bishops, a move which generated acrimony.

Bishop Robinson publicly announced his sexuality in the 1980s and has since been in a 20-year relationship with his current partner.

On Monday Bishop Robinson will attend a film on how the Bible can be used by families to combat homophobia.

He is also to hold a question and answer session with actor, and gay rights campaigner, Sir Ian McKellen.

Gay bishop will preach in London
BBC News

Central control not Anglican, says Williams

2008-07-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

THE Archbishop of Canterbury was in defiant mood this week, as he spoke of his hopes for the Lambeth Conference. He was positive about its strong mission agenda, which he believes should put into perspective the debate about sexuality. In an interview for this paper, Dr Williams admits to feeling "frustrated", and even to having "kicked the furniture a bit over the last few weeks". But he is clear in his analysis that GAFCON (News, 4 July) was not just about the biblical interpretation. "The vast majority of Anglican theologians and Anglican leaders have an absolutely clear commitment to the authority of scripture in the way we always have," he says. Rather: "There are major ethical and cultural anxieties about sexual ethics here." He affirms the Anglican approach as being able to encompass plurality, without any one view undermining the basis of scriptural authority. In the long term, the Anglican Communion would survive, he argues. "We may be less obviously at one for a few years, but that doesn't let us off the obligation to keep listening to each other." The model of diffused authority was part of the essence of Anglicanism: "If we did have a tight central model, we would cease to be the kind of Church we have always set out to be." The Church does, however, need to keep up to date with the new speed of global communications: "When something which happens in one province is instantly around the world, you have to go for a more coherent structure." When pressed about the personal hostility he has encountered, Dr Williams confesses to "feeling really whingeing" about the idea that he might be "incapable of talking to the person in the pew". He jokingly painted a picture of himself "hiding in a foetal position under the bedcovers" if the situation gets any worse, but he remains resilient.
Central control not Anglican, says Williams
Church Times, UK

Bishops! Remember William White while at Lambeth

2008-07-12T01:09:00.001-07:00

By Timothy B. Safford

[Episcopal Life] As always, July 17 is the feast day for William White, first Presiding Bishop and primary architect of the Episcopal Church's unique form of governance. This year, July 17 finds the bishops of the Episcopal Church who are attending the Lambeth Conference beginning a retreat with other Anglican bishops. As Lambeth commences, I pray our bishops remember the "wisdom, patience and a reconciling temper" of Bishop White, and call again White's vision for a church both democratic and catholic to lead Christ's church "from turmoil and confusion" into "ways of stability and peace."

There is as much turmoil and confusion today in the Episcopal Church as 220-plus years ago. For in 1782, William White proposed a form of church government as revolutionary as the new nation itself. Bishops would be chosen by ballot, and votes of the laity would be included. Further, our church would administer itself through democratic legislative conventions, both local and national. In White's vision, the new Episcopal Church would not be imposed from on high by bishops. Rather, the apostolic authority required to build a new church and provide its sacraments would rise up from the baptized through their mutual consent to have a bishop lead them.

While the crisis in the Anglican Communion is often characterized as being a dispute over homosexuality and the authority of Holy Scripture, I see it as a centuries-old debate between a monarchial administration of apostolic authority versus a democratic sharing of that authority.

William White faced many obstacles in building a national church on the democratic model. There were no bishops in the United States and no easy way to ordain one after the Revolutionary War; many Episcopalians, especially in the southern states, feared bishops as a possible return to the monarchism recently put off; and, for Samuel Seabury and the Episcopal churches in New England, for whom a democratically organized church was contrary to the apostolic nature of the Church itself, White's plan was untenable.

Seabury's response was to seek ordination as a bishop by traveling hastily to London, but the Archbishop of Canterbury refused. Bishops in Scotland accommodated and ordained Seabury, and, upon his return, he presented himself as bishop for all the United States. However, Episcopalians in the middle and southern states challenged the legitimacy of his Scottish consecration; opponents of Seabury argued that the Scottish bishops were not truly in the line of apostolic succession, and a unified Episcopal Church seemed unlikely at the dawn of 1785. In our infancy, there was schism before any hope of unity.

In 1786, White succeeded, through the rather slow mail, at negotiations with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and legislation to ordain bishops for the Episcopal Church passed Parliament. Having been duly elected by state conventions comprised of clergy and lay delegates, William White and Samuel Provost were ordained bishops in 1787 in London, making two bishops for the United States in the undisputed English line of apostolic succession. Of course, it takes three bishops to make a fourth, so what was the plan for expanding the American episcopacy? The General Convention now had to recognize and acknowledge Samuel Seabury as a legitimate bishop, or risk losing the episcopacy entirely. But, then, White had to assuage Seabury's concern that the apostolic order of bishop would not operate independently from the laity, priests and deacons in General Convention. The House of Bishops -- a distinct legislative body -- was written into the canons during the General Convention of 1789, clearing the last hurdle to Seabury's and New England's joining the new Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.

Miraculously, by 1789, White had not only aligned the emergent Episcopal Church with the emergent democratic structure of the new United States, he also had instituted what scholars aptly describe as "democratic catholicity," which continues as part of our unique charism and offering to the global church. He brilliantly navigated the church between the Scylla of monarchical apostolic authority and the Charybdis of pluralistic democratic catholicity.

White had a developed skill way too scarce today: the ability to hold opposable ideas, like "democracy," "catholicity," and "apostolicity" in creative tension. White refused the "either-or" thinking which hinders the church in our current conflicts, and used his "wisdom, patience and reconciling temper," to show that the Episcopal Church could be "both-and." I hope our bishops will still fly this banner at Lambeth.

Critics will ask, "But Bishop White would never consent to Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as bishop, would he?" That misses my point. My guess is that White would not consent to Katharine Jefferts Schori being a bishop, much less Presiding Bishop. In his lifetime, White would not acknowledge Absalom Jones as a full and equal member of the clergy in his diocese, so I suspect that the episcopacy of Barbara Harris might confound him even more. But, the revolutionary nature incumbent in both Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and Bishop Harris reveals the fruits of the democratic revolution that White helped midwife into the Episcopal Church more than 200 years ago. William White trusted democratic catholicity, and so should we.

-- The Rev. Timothy B. Safford is rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, where Bishop William White is buried.

Sex and schism in south London

2008-07-12T01:08:00.001-07:00

By Christopher Caldwell

Published: July 11 2008 18:39 | Last updated: July 11 2008 18:39

At the Lambeth conference, which meets once a decade, bishops from the 38 provinces of the worldwide Anglican communion gather to think, pray and talk about sex. No binding votes are cast, but Lambeth has been a venue for airing Church preoccupations since it was first convoked in 1867. For decades, women, gays, abortion, polygamy and venereal disease have divided the attendees. At this year's conference, which starts on July 20, the bishops are expected to clash over the ordination of Gene Robinson, a non-celibate gay man, as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. In recent days, the Church of England, at its general synod, approved ordaining women bishops, souring relations with the Vatican. And the London press revealed that one C of E priest had celebrated an unofficial gay marriage ceremony for two others.

The only thing preventing a walkout by conservative bishops is that so few of them are attending the conference to start with. A thousand conservatives, mostly Africans, including 300 bishops, travelled to Jerusalem last month for an alternative meeting, the first Global Anglican Future Conference. Bishops from Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya plan to boycott Lambeth. Many are on the verge of a "breaking of communion" with the mainstream US Church over its policies on gays. Why, in general, is sex such a pressing issue for religion just now? Why, in particular, does homosexuality among US Episcopal priests threaten to tear up a world religion in a way that, say, the past decade's revelations of homosexuality among US Catholic priests did not?

According to the conservative Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, these fights are a "symptom". The biggest thing they are a symptom of is the newfound might of African Christianity. There were 9m Christians (of all denominations) in Africa in 1900 and 393m in 2005. Half the world's Anglicans are Africans. Their views differ. Christians in poor countries, the historian Philip Jenkins has shown, see the Bible as more authentic and authoritative than North Americans and Europeans do. They read it in a more literal way. This is not because African christians are less rational but because the Bible's world resembles theirs more. And the stakes are higher. In much of Africa, Christianity is a fighting faith: to evangelise is to recruit. There is no similar desperation on the western side of these controversies – the sexual rights for which reformers are fighting inside the Church are widely available in institutions outside of it.

The African view is considerably more in harmony with that of conservative Anglicans in England, Australia, Canada and, especially, the US. The entire diocese of San Joaquin, California, has defected to the more conservative Anglican province of the Southern Cone in Latin America. At least 33 US churches have placed themselves under the authority of the Church of Uganda. Dozens more have joined the Church of Nigeria. There are US "missionary" bishops of African churches.

John Bryson Chane, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, DC, recently wrote: "Theologically, support for same-sex marriage is not a dramatic break with tradition, but a recognition that the church's understanding of marriage has changed dramatically over 2,000 years." Well, that depends on what Bishop Chane means by "the" Church. The English Church was in communion with Rome before Henry VIII changed his understanding of marriage. The result was schism. Apparently, what constitutes a "dramatic break" is in the eye of the beholder.

Other bishops view same-sex unions as a bigger break than Bishop Chane. At the 1998 conference they passed a resolution, by a vote of 526 to 70, "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture" and opposing "the legitimising or blessing of same-sex unions" and the ordination of people in such unions. It is the US disregard of this resolution that has led African bishops to cry bad faith.

As they debated women bishops and gay priests, Euro-American elites used to assume that time was on their side – first, because the logic of women's and sexual liberation was ineluctable and, second, because the opinions of the developing world were invariably "progressive". Wrong on both counts. There is resistance to feminism in many churches – indeed, the traditionalist ones draw more converts than the mainline ones. And those progressive views were political, not theological. A big Anglican role in the anti-apartheid movement disguised this divergence between Britain and North America on one hand and Africa on the other. Just as the US conservative coalition has come apart after the collapse of communism, the diverse Anglican churches are no longer held together by the struggle against white racism.

The consequences of this misreading are compounded by globalisation. When the Anglican Church began to change its views on human sexuality, African Christians were disorganised. Maybe the internet has not penetrated Africa the way it has the US and Europe, but it has penetrated enough for the leaderships of the various African Anglicanisms to discover they have roughly the same gripe with the metropole and can make common cause against it.

Whether English Anglicanism or African Anglicanism predominates, and what arrangements are made for reconciling the two, is the business of nobody but the Anglicans themselves. But only two resolutions to this situation appear possible: a split in the communion or an African preponderance within it. Either way, the long period of liberalisation in the Anglican communion is drawing to a close.

The writer is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard

Sex and schism in south London
Financial Times, UK