News
2006-01-10
Possible schism
over homosexuality a topic at Anglican conference
Some 800
conservative Anglicans are expected at a Birmingham,
Ala., meeting this week, including African and Asian
Some 800
conservative Anglicans are expected at a Birmingham,
Ala., meeting this week, including African and Asian
archbishops who have warned of a possible schism if
the U.S. Episcopal Church does not renounce its
approval of gay bishops and blessing of same-sex unions.
The Anglican Mission in America, a splinter
group that includes many ex-Episcopalians, will have a
conference Wednesday through Sunday at the Sheraton
Birmingham Hotel. The Episcopal Church is the main U.S.
branch of the Anglican Communion. Organizers say as
many as nine Anglican archbishops, or primates, from
various countries plan to attend.
Church growth and mission work are the main
topics of seminars Thursday through Saturday, said the
Reverend John Richardson, host priest and the rector
of St. Peter's Anglican Church in Mountain Brook, Ala.
Richardson said he expects the sexual morality issues
to arise "only indirectly" at the Birmingham meeting.
The debate over homosexuality will likely heat
up within the Episcopal Church this year with the
approach of its General Convention,
occurring June 13–21, the church's first
governing meeting since an openly gay bishop was
approved in 2003. The approval of Bishop V. Gene
Robinson of New Hampshire has been heavily criticized by
conservative Episcopalians in the United States and by
Anglican leaders overseas.
"The controversy remains," said Bishop John
Rucyahana of Rwanda, who played a key role in the
founding of the Anglican Mission in America. The
mission has used the authority of African bishops to ordain
American bishops to oversee conservative Anglicans who
have defected from the Episcopal Church.
Rucyahana said the mission strongly opposes
blessing same-sex unions and ordaining noncelibate
gays. "It's against biblical teaching," he said. This
week's Anglican Mission meeting focuses on evangelism, he
said. (AP)
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