The head of the
Episcopal Church asked church members for patience after
fellow Anglican leaders demanded the U.S. denomination step
back from its support of gays or risk losing its full
membership in the world Anglican fellowship. Presiding
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said Tuesday in a
statement that Anglican leaders are asking all sides in the
fight over the Bible and sexuality to "forbear for a
season" until the 77 million-member Anglican
Communion can forge a compromise.
"Each party in
this conflict is asked to consider the good faith of
the other," Jefferts Schori said. "Each is asked to
discipline itself for the sake of the greater whole."
At the end of a
summit Monday in Tanzania, which Jefferts Schori
attended, Anglican leaders demanded that the Episcopal
Church unequivocally ban official prayers for gay
couples and the consecration of more gay bishops by
September 30 or risk its status in the communion.
Tension over
sexuality has been simmering for years among the Anglican
churches, but the Episcopal Church caused an uproar in 2003
in the communion by consecrating the first openly gay
bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
Supporters of
ordaining gays believe biblical teachings on justice and
inclusion should take precedence. Advocates for gay
Christians say the demands amount to bigotry; some
have suggested the church should simply leave the
communion.
The San
Francisco-based Episcopal Diocese of California,
which blesses same-sex couples, said Tuesday that the
church should not "compromise the essentials of our
theology or our polity."
Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual head of the
Anglican family, has been struggling ever since Robinson's
consecration to keep Anglicans unified.
Anglican leaders
also suggested creating a special vicar for the minority
of Episcopalians who reject the authority of Jefferts
Schori, who supports same-sex relationships.
Jefferts Schori
noted in her statement that the U.S. church has tended to
focus on the suffering of gays and lesbians, which has been
considered a rejection of traditional understanding of
sexual morality in "other parts of the global church."
"Both parties hold positions that can be defended by
appeal to our Anglican sources of authority,
Scripture, tradition, and reason," she said.
But she cautioned
that a "single-minded" focus from either side will
ultimately hurt the church.
Already the rift
has taken a toll. An estimated 45 U.S. parishes out of
nearly 7,200 have broken away and affiliated with
conservative Anglican churches overseas. Two prominent
Virginia parishes, along with several smaller
churches, have gone much further, joining the Convocation of
Anglicans in North America, a rival U.S. church network
created by Nigerian archbishop Peter Akinola. Six U.S.
dioceses have rejected Jefferts Schori's leadership.
(Rachel Zoll, AP)
