BRITAIN: Openly gay priest Rev Jeffrey John, whose nomination for bishop last year nearly caused a worldwide split in the Anglican church, was installed as a dean yesterday.
Rev John was forced to relinquish his appointment as Bishop of Reading after it sparked fury from conservative members of the church and renewed bitter debate among Anglicans over sex and homosexuality.
Rev John, who says he is celibate although in a committed relationship, was to be installed as Dean of St Albans, north of London, at a service later yesterday. A dean ranks below a bishop and has less of a pastoral role but Rev John's latest appointment has still drawn criticism from conservative Anglicans and many are threatening to withhold money from the diocese.
"He advocates the cause which he is identified with [homosexuality] and that is, we believe ... contrary to the formulas of the Church of England," Mr Phillip Giddings, of the conservative Anglican Mainstream group, told BBC radio.
Mr Giddings said Christians had to answer to God over how they used their resources and that included money.
But the acting Dean of St Albans, Rev Stephen Lake, said the vast majority of the congregation welcomed the appointment.
"A small number of folk have been concerned about it, and we've worked with them and helped them with that," he told the BBC, adding that the withdrawal of funds would not affect St Albans Cathedral.
Rev John was one of two similar cases which threatened the unity of the Anglican communion last year. The other was that of the openly gay Dr Gene Robinson, who was consecrated as bishop of New Hampshire in the US.