Word: anglican
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This Sunday a number of Episcopal churches in America will be praying under a distinctly foreign authority. God is still in charge, but so will the Church of Uganda. The east African nation's Anglican Church consecrated Virginian John Guernsey as bishop earlier this month to lead 33 American congregations that have defected from the U.S. Episcopal Church, mainly because of the American organization's stand of gay ordination - a stance reaffirmed at a conference this week in New Orleans...
...earlier in September, in a five-hour-long, open-air service in southwestern Uganda that blended Anglican hymns with traditional African music, bishops from around the world joined together to anoint the latest conservative U.S. cleric seeking shelter in an African church. Says Guernsey: "Uganda has become a haven for ecclesiastical refugees...
...Ugandan shirt, Bishop Guernsey earnestly called Uganda his "spiritual home." Guernsey is the most recent in a series of American bishops pledging allegiance to African churches that have strong anti-homosexuality stances. In September alone, Americans William Atwood and William Murdoch were also consecrated by an African church, the Anglican Church of Kenya. Anglicans worldwide have been divided since the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church's American branch, consecrated Gene Robinson as Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop four years...
...Anglican bishops met in Tanzania in February to issue an ultimatum to the U.S. church, calling for an end to both the appointment of gay clergy and the approval of same-sex unions. After a six-day meeting in New Orleans, American Episcopalians decided Wednesday that they will "exercise restraint" in doing both actions, but did not announce an end to its liberal position on homosexuality. The Episcopal Church also called for an end to the practice of foreign bishops consecrating Americans...
...Communion is scheduled to review the Episcopal vote over the next few weeks. It is always possible that Williams will be able to forestall drastic action against the American church at least until all the Anglican Bishops gather at their once-a-decade Lambeth conference next July. However, both the liberal Episcopalians and the Communion conservatives seem so fixed in their positions that it is hard to imagine that the current delicate balance can be sustained too much longer...