Anglican leader urges ban on gay bishops

NEW YORK - The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans urged church leaders Sunday not to consecrate any other gay bishops for now, as he ended a once-a-decade Anglican assembly that was dedicated to preventing schism in the troubled fellowship.In his final speech at the Lambeth Conference, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the Anglican Communion needs "space for study and free discussion without pressure" about whether to accept changes in the traditional biblical understanding of same-sex relationships."A fellow Christian may believe they have a profound fresh insight. They seek to persuade others about it. A healthy church gives space for such exchanges," he told the 650 bishops at the meeting in Canterbury, England. "But the Christian with the new insight can't claim straight away that this is now what the Church of God believes or intends."The 77-million-member Anglican Communion has been splintering since 2003, when the U.S. Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.Williams barred Robinson and a few other bishops from the assembly, and designed the event without legislation or votes, instead focusing on rebuilding frayed relationships.Still, more than 200 theologically conservative bishops boycotted Lambeth, which ran for 20 days. In June, just before Lambeth began, these same bishops formed a new global network within the communion that challenges Williams' authority but stops just short of a permanent split.Williams does not have the authority to force any agreement among the conflicted groups. The 38 Anglican national churches, including the U.S. Episcopal Church, are self-governed and loosely connected by shared roots in the missionary work of the Church of England.But the bishops at Lambeth said Sunday in a statement that they called their "reflections" on the meeting that "there is widespread support across the communion" for an extended moratorium on gay bishops and on blessing ceremonies for same-gender couples.
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Lambeth Conference: http://www.lambethconference.org/index.cfm http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080803/ap_on_re/rel_anglicans_lambeth_conference;_ylt=AiGA5tZzz7lONPaY0wrODEGs0NUE
As in the days of Noah....