US:Several leading liberal Episcopalians in America have indicated they would rather accept a schism than accede to a demand from leaders of the worldwide Anglican communion for what they view as an unconscionable rollback of the US church's position on gay rights.
The defiant reaction to the communique issued by the primates, or heads, of the communion's 38 national churches on Monday at the conclusion of a weeklong meeting in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, reflected a growing feeling on both sides of the dispute that time for compromise is running out.
"Yes, I would accept schism," said Bishop Steven Charleston, president of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "I would be willing to accept being told I'm not in communion with places like Nigeria if it meant I could continue to be in a position of justice and morality. If the price I pay is that I'm not considered to be part of a flawed communion, then so be it."
Conservative primates, many from developing countries, insisted in Dar Es Salaam that the 2.3 million-member US church must comply with the 77-million-member communion's position that homosexual practice is "incompatible with Scripture".
They sought and won a September 30th deadline for US bishops to pledge to stop authorising rites of blessing for same-sex couples and to promise not to consecrate any more gay bishops since the election of the Rev Gene Robinson in New Hampshire in 2003.
US conservatives hailed the communique. Martyn Minns, of Fairfax, Virginia, one of 15 northern Virginia congregations that voted since November 2005 to separate from the Episcopal Church, said it gives the US church just "one last chance".
Some Episcopalians who support gay rights said they are waiting to hear from the church's presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, who signed the communique. "My assumption is, she's coming home to tell us how it can work," said Jim Naughton, a spokesman for the Washington diocese. "And since she's amassed a lot of goodwill in a short time, maybe she can persuade us - though it will be a hard sell."
Other liberals suggested it was time to admit they have been outmanoeuvred.
The Rev Mark Harris, a retired priest and liberal blogger who sits on the Episcopal Church's 40-member executive council, said US bishops may have to tell the Anglican communion they cannot speak for the entire US church, which has a democratic structure that includes lay people and priests in decision-making.
"Part of the courage needed for the future is to stand by what we believe is right, and stand by the consequences," he said. - (LA Times/Washington Post)