c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The continuing row within the worldwide Anglican Communion over homosexuality and the Bible will rumble to Africa next week (Feb. 14-19) as the communion’s primates, or top bishops, convene in Tanzania.

The meeting presents a critical moment for the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism, and its new Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. In the near-400-year history of Anglicanism, Jefferts Schori is the first woman to lead a national church and gain a seat at the primates’ table.

Already, some conservative bishops _ particularly those from the “global South” _ have argued that the Episcopal Church veers dangerously astray from biblical teachings and have promised to protest Jefferts Schori’s presence at the meeting.

The primates’ gathering is meant to be a time of reflection, Bible study and fellowship among the world’s most powerful Anglican leaders, said the Rev. Ian Douglas, a professor of global Christianity at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass.

But this year, the agenda will include discussion of two controversial items _ the Episcopal Church’s response to the outrage that followed its ordination of a gay bishop in 2003, and a possible “covenant” that would bind members of the Anglican Communion.

An international committee of Anglicans will report on the Episcopal Church’s response to requests that it express regret for the gay bishop and declare a moratorium on gay clergy and same-sex unions.

Last summer, the Episcopal Church’s General Convention agreed to urge “restraint” before naming any more gay bishops and apologized for “straining the bonds of affection” among Anglicans.

Some conservatives argue the Episcopal Church didn’t go far enough, and have called for the primates to toss the church out of the Anglican Communion. They don’t have that power, Douglas said.

“The primates do not have that authority, and those who would expect this report to be the final chapter are sadly mistaken, no matter what it says,” Douglas said.

Another committee will report progress on a “covenant,” an idea floated last year by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to settle differences among Anglicans. Williams, spiritual leader of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, suggested different levels of membership in the communion, depending on a member church’s commitment to orthodox teaching.

A group of conservative Episcopalians, who represent about 10 percent of the 2.2-million member Episcopal Church, is angling to be recognized as the true U.S. branch of the communion.

Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, who has been invited to address the primates in Tanzania, said he will argue that the Episcopal Church has actually walked away from traditional Anglicanism. The 10 dioceses and 900-odd U.S. parishes in his Anglican Communion Network, meanwhile, have remained orthodox, Duncan said.

“Right now there are two groups that claim to be the Episcopal Church,” Duncan said. “One has innovated a great deal and stepped outside the bounds of the Anglican Communion and the other one represents what Anglicans everywhere believe.”

KRE/LF END BURKE

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