Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the worldwide
Anglican Communion, is drawing up plans to officially expel
the U.S. Episcopal Church over its acceptance of gays.
The archbishop is punishing the U.S. church for
consecrating Gene Robinson, who is openly
gay, as bishop of New Hampshire three years ago, an act
that has propelled the worldwide church to the brink
of schism, The Times of London reports.
Archbishop
Williams is proposing a two-track Anglican Communion, with
orthodox churches being accorded full "constituent"
membership and the pro-gay churches being consigned to
"associate" membership. All provinces will be offered
the chance to sign up to a "covenant" that will set
out traditional biblical standards on which all full
members of the Anglican Communion can agree.
The Episcopal
Church in the United States and the Anglican Church in
Canada and New Zealand, which have been inclusive of gay
couples, are not likely to commit themselves to such a
document, the Times reports. Should they refuse, they
could opt to cut ties to Canterbury altogether or
could choose to remain in "associate" status.
The proposal will
be discussed soon at the next meeting of the standing
committee of the 38 primates and then again at the
primates' meeting in February. They will come
to the table of the worldwide church, along with the
wording of the proposed covenant, at the Lambeth Conference
in 2008. It is then that the Episcopal Church and
others will face the choice of signing up to biblical
orthodoxy or walking away from the Anglican Communion
table to the hinterland of "associate" status. (The
Advocate)
