Amid the confusion caused by their divisions over what the Bible teaches about homosexuality, Anglican bishops meeting for the Lambeth Conference have come to realise one thing – that the Anglican Communion cannot continue as it is.<\/p>\n
Information from the bishops’ discussion of the subject shows an awareness of the enormous gulf in how each side views the very nature of Anglicanism.<\/p>\n
For Anglicans, as the bishops’ reflections document explains, “in some parts [much of Africa, for a start] homosexual and lesbian relations are a taboo; in others [the United States, for example] it has become a justice issue”.<\/p>\n
There’s a growing acceptance that divisions are likely to intensify, and that the Episcopal Church in the United States is likely to ordain another gay bishop before very long.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the conservative alliance set up in Jerusalem last month – the traditionalist church-within-the-church that thumbed its nose at the Lambeth Conference and at the Archbishop of Canterbury – will continue to recruit and organise inside the Episcopal Church’s territory.<\/p>\n
The official group set up to find a way out of the crisis acknowledged it faced “a long and arduous road” in rescuing the Communion.<\/p>\n
In fact, if things simply stay as they are there might not even be another Lambeth Conference.<\/p>\n