Rift haunts Anglican meeting

By - Associated Press
Thursday, July 17, 2008 - Web Link
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July 17, 2008

The Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade summit of the world's Anglican bishops starting this week, will be a tense, closely watched family reunion.

The Anglican Communion has been splintering since 2003, when the Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V.Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

The meeting is considered a measure of the health of the global fellowship, and on the basis of attendance alone, the communion looks fragile. About one-quarter of Anglican bishops - conservatives mostly from Africa - are boycotting the conference.

The 650 or so church leaders who are participating are a mix of traditionalists and liberals with divergent ideas on what Anglicans should believe.

Overseeing the get-together is Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader. As the "first among equals," he has no authority to force a compromise. Still, he bears the heavy burden of trying to keep the centuries-old communion together.

"In my view, the split has already taken place," said David Steinmetz, an expert in Christian history at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. "The interesting question - still unanswered - is how wide and deep will it grow?"

The Anglican Communion is a fellowship of churches that trace their roots to the missionary work of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States.