U.S., Canadian
Anglicans meet in England

Anglican bishops from the United States and Canada gathered in England on Tuesday to brief a top church body regarding their stance on homosexuality--an issue that threatens to split the 77 million-strong global communion. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams acknowledged Monday that the U.S. church's appointment of an openly gay bishop and the Canadian wing's support for the blessing of same-sex unions had caused "outrage and hurt" among many Anglicans. Meeting in Northern Ireland in February, leaders of the 38 national Anglican churches asked the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to sit out this week's meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, an international body of bishops, priests, and lay people that meets every three years. But Anglican leaders also asked the North American churches to send representatives to the meeting, which is taking place in the central city of Nottingham, to explain their views on homosexuality, which official church policy calls "incompatible with Scripture." Addressing the Nottingham gathering Monday, Williams acknowledged how deeply the issue had split Anglicans. "We can't ignore the seriousness of what divides us," he said. "But if there is no easy solution, and there is not, we can at least think about this simple suggestion. If it is difficult for us to stand together at the Lord's Table as we might wish, can we continue to be friends?" That may prove difficult. The issue of homosexuality has opened a rift between Anglican liberals--many of them in North America--and conservatives, who are strongest in Africa and Asia. Many fear it is unbridgeable. The bishops' February communique said Anglican teaching on sexuality had "been seriously undermined by the recent developments in North America." A 1998 resolution adopted by all Anglican bishops declared that gay sex was "incompatible with Scripture" and opposed gay ordinations and same-sex blessings. The U.S. and Canadian churches have been asked to explain the theological reasoning behind the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire and the decision by the western Canadian diocese of New Westminster to authorize the blessing of same-sex unions. The six-member U.S. presentation team includes one bishop who voted against Robinson's ordination, Charles Jenkins, and another who backed him after expressing doubts, Neil Alexander. In a letter issued to U.S. bishops on Friday, presiding bishop Frank Griswold--head of the Episcopal Church--said the delegation "indicates that those of differing points of view can live with mutual affection and make common cause in the service of Christ's mission." But the conservative American Anglican Council said the composition of the group "represent a revisionist theology and radical wing of the Episcopal Church." Such talks pose problems for Williams, a social liberal who has criticized homophobia in the church. He said the official line against homosexuality does not mean "there are no issues to be resolved, no prejudice to be repented of, because there unquestionably is much of this."Unifiers fear conservatives will set up parallel structures to bypass the church hierarchy, leading to a permanent split. In the U.S. Episcopal Church, for example, a group of conservative bishops led by Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh has formed a "network" insisting that the church affirm traditional teaching against same-sex relationships. It could wrestle with church leaders for control of parishes and dioceses and has gained support from church leaders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. (AP)