Bishops turning back on Lambeth
Posted on June 27, 2008
Filed Under Gay News Blog
For a century the Lambeth Conference has been one of the events keeping intact this largest Protestant church grouping in the world.
Now, for the first time, and just when the Anglican Communion is most at risk of disintegration, almost a third of the bishops invited to attend have decided to boycott the meeting.
It is a blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams who wants to use the conference to heal the rift over sexuality which has driven the Communion to the brink of a permanent split.
The 250 bishops who have said they will stay away from the conference are attending what amounts to a rival meeting in Jerusalem.
They take a traditional view of biblical teaching on sexuality - that the Bible rules out active homosexuality.
The meeting - entitled Global Anglican Future Conference - is discussing what appears to be a blueprint for a separate communion.
The signs are that Gafcon will decide against an immediate split, but the boycott of Lambeth is an early sign of how much influence a powerful traditionalist lobby could have inside the Communion.
Most of the bishops staying away from Lambeth are from a few large churches, in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.
Bishops turning back on Lambeth
BBC News, UK -
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