THE US:American bishops have sought to avert a schism in the Anglican Communion by pledging to "exercise restraint" by not ordaining any more openly gay bishops and by banning formal prayers to bless same-sex couples.
At a meeting in New Orleans, bishops in the Episcopal Church responded to concerns expressed by Anglican leaders elsewhere in the world following the 2003 ordination of the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.
In an almost unanimous vote, they said they would "reconfirm" a resolution from last year's Anglican general convention that asked them "to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion". They said "non-celibate gay and lesbian persons" are among those affected by the ban and pledged "as a body not to authorise public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions".
They also endorsed a plan for alternate Episcopal oversight for conservative parishes which do not accept their liberal bishops.
Presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said she believed the document met the requests of other Anglican leaders but some conservatives complained that it did not amount to a permanent ban on openly gay bishops.
The statement pledged that the church would respect and protect civil rights for gays and lesbians and gave no indication that Episcopal bishops would stop consecrating openly gay priests.
The bishops also acknowledged that some Episcopal parishes bless same-sex couples and simply restated the official Anglican position that the church would not develop a formal liturgy for such blessings.
In November the next archbishop of Chicago will be selected; one of those on the shortlist is a lesbian.
Four Episcopal dioceses have taken steps towards breaking away and aligning themselves with conservative Anglican churches overseas and about 60 parishes have voted to leave the Episcopal church. Conservative Anglican leaders from Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere have consecrated bishops to oversee congregations in the US.
The bishops' statement endorsed a plan to allow parishes unhappy with their liberal bishops to receive "oversight" from other Episcopal bishops but called for "an immediate end to diocesan incursions by uninvited bishops".
Editorial comment: page 19