Anglican Evangelicals Welcome Tanzania Primates Communiqué

Evangelicals in the Church of England have issued a statement of support on the recent communiqué on the Episcopal Church of the USA by the Primates of the Anglican Communion in Tanzania.

The Tanzania communiqué asks that the US Episcopal Church "make an unequivocal common covenant" by September 30 in which it gives the assurance that it will not authorise same-gender blessings or consecrate gay bishops unless the green light for such consecrations is given communion-wide.

David Banting, chairman of Reform, a network of mainstream Anglican evangelicals in the Church of England, welcomed the communiqué and the agreement among Primates in Tanzania that "the false teaching eating away at the life of the Communion should not be allowed to continue indefinitely".

Mr Banting also welcomed the deadline set by the Primates for the Episcopal Church of the USA to clarify its position on homosexuality.

"We commit ourselves to praying for the Episcopal Church of the USA as it considers whether to step back from the brink of schism; for those US parishes currently under the oversight of overseas provinces and for the new Pastoral Council and Primatial Vicar as they seek to accommodate the needs of those committed to biblical Christianity," he said.

Ahead of the Church of England's own debate on homosexuality on Wednesday, Banting said, "We continue to urge the House of Bishops to adopt a similarly firm
stand on such false teaching in order to avoid our own Church being brought to the brink of schism."

On the morning of Wednesday 28 February, the Church of England's General Synod will face a challenging discussion on a motion put forward by the Rev Mary Gilbert of the Lichfield Diocese which calls for the Church of England to welcome and affirm lesbian and gay Christians, lay and ordained, at every level of the Church.

In an effort to keep the peace, the Bishop of Gloucester will move an amendment commending "continuing efforts to prevent the diversity of opinion about human sexuality creating further division and impaired fellowship within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion".

Later in the day, Synod will discuss a motion put forward by the Rev Paul Perkin of Southwark which says that the Civil Partnership Act has undermined the distinctiveness of marriage while the House of Bishops' Pastoral Statement on civil partnerships has produced a "recipe for confusion" by "not stating clearly that civil partnerships entered into under the CP Act would be inconsistent with Christian teaching".

In an interview with the Guardian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams reaffirmed the Anglican Communion's rejection of homosexuality.

"The stance of the Anglican Communion is clear: It has never said anything other than that. The ordination of active homosexuals is not acceptable," Dr Williams said in the interview. "It has never said anything other than that the marriage of same-sex couples is not to be admitted."