The leaders of the US Episcopal church will today vote on a make or break compromise aimed at preventing a global split in the Anglican communion over homosexuality.
The agreement aims to accommodate conservative Anglicans - predominantly from Africa - who have called on liberal clergy to stop blessing gay couples and ban the appointment of openly gay bishops. Liberal clergy are expected to continue offering pastoral support to gay couples. However, senior bishops were also facing ruptures between traditionalists and liberals within the Episcopal church, the Anglican body in the US.
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told a meeting in New Orleans last week that Episcopalians should stay within the church and not seek to align themselves with more fundamentalist provinces in Africa.
The agreement aims to accommodate conservative Anglicans - predominantly from Africa - who have called on liberal clergy to stop blessing gay couples and ban the appointment of openly gay bishops. Liberal clergy are expected to continue offering pastoral support to gay couples. However, senior bishops were also facing ruptures between traditionalists and liberals within the Episcopal church, the Anglican body in the US.
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told a meeting in New Orleans last week that Episcopalians should stay within the church and not seek to align themselves with more fundamentalist provinces in Africa.
Dr Williams was strongly critical of African attempts to recruit dissident parishes in the US. However, American conservative bishops complained that he had refused to see them or return their calls.
They are likely to seek oversight from an African province, and their leader, Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh, predicted that around five of the US church's 112 dioceses would seek to affiliate outside the US.
The compromise being worked on would also allow dioceses out of sympathy with the church's leadership to seek their own Episcopal oversight and enable the setting up of a pastoral council with foreign representatives.
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With the Anglican world anxiously waiting, Episcopal leaders meeting in New Orleans weighed their response to demands that they bar any more gays from becoming bishops. A bishops' committee took a break late Monday after working on a statement that could determine whether the global Anglican fellowship splits apart.
Anglican leaders set a Sept. 30 deadline for the Americans to pledge unequivocally not to consecrate another gay bishop or approve an official prayer service for same-gender couples. A vote by the full House of Bishops was set for Tuesday, the final day of the Episcopal meeting.
''We are working very closely with one another whether we are on the conservative end of the church, the liberal or the moderate middle,'' said liberal Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno. ''We're looking to make as full, clear and complete a response as we can.''
Bishop Ed Little, a theological conservative from of northern Indiana who wants to stay in the Episcopal Church, said that lay and clergy leaders from the Anglican Communion who have been attending the six-day meeting are pushing bishops to make concessions. ''They've all said in essence, for the good of the church, for the good of the communion, you have to take a step back,'' Little said.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, took the unusual step of attending the meeting here on its first two days, warning Episcopal leaders behind closed doors that they must make changes to keep the communion together.
Last year, the top Episcopal policy making body, the General Convention, asked bishops to ''exercise restraint'' by not approving candidates for bishop ''whose manner of life presents a challenge'' to the church. However, the measure isn't binding, and a lesbian with a female partner is among the finalists in an upcoming election for Chicago bishop.
The Episcopal prayer book has no liturgy for blessing same-gender couples, but about a dozen of the 110 U.S. dioceses allow priests to perform the ceremonies.
With the Anglican world anxiously waiting, Episcopal leaders meeting in New Orleans weighed their response to demands that they bar any more gays from becoming bishops. A bishops' committee took a break late Monday after working on a statement that could determine whether the global Anglican fellowship splits apart.
Anglican leaders set a Sept. 30 deadline for the Americans to pledge unequivocally not to consecrate another gay bishop or approve an official prayer service for same-gender couples. A vote by the full House of Bishops was set for Tuesday, the final day of the Episcopal meeting.
''We are working very closely with one another whether we are on the conservative end of the church, the liberal or the moderate middle,'' said liberal Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno. ''We're looking to make as full, clear and complete a response as we can.''
Bishop Ed Little, a theological conservative from of northern Indiana who wants to stay in the Episcopal Church, said that lay and clergy leaders from the Anglican Communion who have been attending the six-day meeting are pushing bishops to make concessions. ''They've all said in essence, for the good of the church, for the good of the communion, you have to take a step back,'' Little said.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, took the unusual step of attending the meeting here on its first two days, warning Episcopal leaders behind closed doors that they must make changes to keep the communion together.
Last year, the top Episcopal policy making body, the General Convention, asked bishops to ''exercise restraint'' by not approving candidates for bishop ''whose manner of life presents a challenge'' to the church. However, the measure isn't binding, and a lesbian with a female partner is among the finalists in an upcoming election for Chicago bishop.
The Episcopal prayer book has no liturgy for blessing same-gender couples, but about a dozen of the 110 U.S. dioceses allow priests to perform the ceremonies.
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