nooooooooo!

bad news from the united states episcopal church. they blinked. here is what the bbc online is saying about it this morning:

"Anglicans to halt gay ordinations

Leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States have agreed to halt the ordination of gay clergy to prevent a split in the Anglican Church. The Church will also no longer approve prayers to bless same-sex couples. Many African Anglicans threatened to leave the worldwide Anglican Communion after the ordination of the first openly gay bishop four years ago. The American Church was told to meet the conditions by 30 September or lose membership of the communion. US bishops made the decision after a six-day meeting in New Orleans. The meeting was attended in part by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who urged the Episcopal Church to make concessions for the sake of unity. The Episcopal Church is the American wing of the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members worldwide.

The BBC's religious affairs correspondent, Robert Pigott, says the agreement will help defuse the crisis triggered by the US Church's consecration of an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003. But traditionalists in the US are already making plans to set up their own independent Church. Conservative churchgoers believe homosexuality is contrary to the Church's teachings. However, liberal Anglicans have argued that biblical teachings on justice and inclusion should take precedence. The Episcopal bishops did reaffirm their commitment to the civil rights of gay people and said they opposed any violence towards them or violation of their dignity."

one giant step back

woke up to the news that the leaders of the anglican communion have given the american episcopalian branch about 7 months to ban blessings of same sex unions. this is where i read it.

the leader of the communion, the archbishop of canterbury, said: (this is) “an interim solution that certainly falls very short of resolving all the disputes.”

the article notes that: "The primates said their instructions were intended to reassure other Anglicans “who have lost faith in the Episcopal Church,” to minister to conservative Episcopalians who have rebelled against their leadership’s more liberal stance and ultimately to curtail efforts by bishops from other countries to take over parishes within the United States."

hmmmm ... in the usa they are fighting right now about who gets to keep the property if conservative parishes try to secede from the episcopal church.

i'm sorry, i need to rant for a moment:

WITH ALL THE TERRIBLE THINGS HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD AT THE MOMENT LIKE WAR AND POVERTY AND CHILDREN DYING OF HUNGER, THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IS GETTING ITS KNICKERS IN A TWIST ABOUT THIS? FOR GOD'S SAKE!

i think that libby purves and i are actually on the same page.

ok. rant curtailed. for now.

meanwhile, in the times ruth gledhill reports that there are plans to reunite the anglican church with the roman catholics under the leadership of the pope. she writes:

"Were this week’s discussions to lead to a split between liberals and conservatives, many of the former objections in Rome to a reunion with Anglican conservatives would disappear. Many of those Anglicans who object most strongly to gay ordination also oppose the ordination of women priests.

Rome has already shown itself willing to be flexible on the subject of celibacy when it received dozens of married priests from the Church of England into the Catholic priesthood after they left over the issue of women’s ordination."

ruth discusses the issue more in her blog