Possible New Plan In Store For Anglican Church Involving Gay Bishops
Jacob Cherian - All Headline News Staff Writer London, England (AHN) - The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church, has proposed a bi-partisan membership for the church segregating the Church in the U.S. for the consecration of a gay bishop. Archbishop Rowan Williams has laid out a plan dividing the spiritual body of 77 million Anglicans after the Episcopal Church refused to forward an apology for the appointment of a homosexual bishop. The plan involves national churches opting for a full status or an "associate" membership, which would involve lesser rights in the global communion. Anglican churches in Scotland, Canada and New Zealand would also be isolated for allowing same-sex marriages. Britain is home to the third-largest association of Christians, behind the Roman Catholics and Orhthodox. Media reports suggest that the Anglican Communion is splitting up over the issue of reforms, which needs to be resolved by members as a single entity. A London Times editorial on the Williams' plan says, "It is schism in all but name." Although the plan would be debated for many years before it is implemented, the divide would cause a financial and property clash. The federation of national churches, referred to as the Anglican Communion, consists of a liberal minority and a conservative majority -mostly populated in Africa- that is critical of the gay bishop, Gene Robinson. The issue was further aggravated |
