In a defiant gesture rooted in the battle over homosexuality, two Anglican archbishops consecrated four conservative American priests as bishops on Sunday.
The elevation of the four priests on US soil by foreign archbishops sent shock waves through the worldwide Anglican Communion and its US member, the Episcopal Church. It was decried by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, as trespassing and brought the 2.3 million-member Episcopal denomination closer to formal schism.
The dissenting archbishops said the Episcopal Church's tacit acceptance of the ordination of noncelibate gay men and lesbians and the blessing of same-sex unions was evidence of a broader "crisis of faith".
In the past several months, conservative parishes in Maryland and Pennsylvania have fought publicly with bishops about issues of biblical truth and human sexuality. Parishioners at Christ Church in Accokeek, Maryland, asked Suffragan Bishop Jane Dixon of the Diocese of Washington to stop entering the church.
But the coming to America of conservative Anglican archbishops to ordain bishops was unprecedented in the church's history.
Both sides agreed it laid the groundwork for a breakaway Anglican denomination in the US, one that would exist parallel to the established and decidedly more liberal Episcopal Church.
The four newly-ordained bishops and two other Americans consecrated early last year in Singapore by the same group will minister to disaffected Episcopalians in 28 congregations that have already bolted from the Episcopal Church, as well as nine other congregations that have been formed.
The conservative group's leaders said they would welcome other disaffected Episcopal congregations into the fold. They also said their bishops would consider invitations to minister to any of the 7,368 parishes that are still in the Episcopal Church.
"I believe this is the opening round in what will become a realignment in the Anglican Communion along the fault line of biblical truth," said Bishop Charles Murphy, who was ordained in Singapore. "More and more people are going to decide whether they are going to go the way of truth or unity."
In ceremonies held at the nondenominational Colorado Community Church on Sunday night, Archbishops Emmanuel Mbona Kolini of Rwanda and Datuk Ping Chung Yong of Southeast Asia, bedecked in flowing vestments and crowned with mitres, laid their hands on the heads of the four American priests and ordained them as Anglican bishops.