Although the four people have not been identified yet, it is generally believed that the four will include the Primate of Wales, Archbishop Barry Morgan, who is a known liberalist within the Church, as well as the Primate of Central Africa, Archbishop Bernard Malango, who is more traditional in his Biblical views.
The group has been established to play a vital role after June’s General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the USA (ECUSA). The group could be influential in whether the worldwide structure of the Anglican Communion can stay as it is, or whether it will split.
The Communion has avoided the divisive matter for the moment after the Diocese of California decided against electing a gay bishop at the weekend. But next month looks to bring the debate to the forefront once again as the ECUSA looks to find a solution to the controversy.
On Saturday, Episcopalians in California elected the Rt Rev Mark Andrus from seven candidates, of which, three were openly homosexual. It had been feared that another gay bishop would be chosen, which would have potentially been more damaging than the previous consecration of Gene Robinson in 2003, as the Anglican Communion’s first ever gay bishop in its 450 year history.A Special Commission of the Episcopal Church has also been created, consisting of clergy and laypeople, with the goal to recommend a way for the Church to tackle the problem. In April 2006 it reported back that the Church should be extremely cautious about making any new consecrations of homosexual clergy, and that it should make a fresh statement of repentance, and apologise for the trouble it had caused the worldwide Communion.
Specifically the group explained that it was split over whether it should go a stage further and tell the 2.3 million-member Church to “refrain” from consecrating gays at all. Instead it has settled by telling members to use extreme and “considerable caution” before committing another consecration such as Gene Robinson’s.
Anglican leaders across Africa and Asia have called for the ECUSA to be expelled from the Communion unless it repented for its consecration of Bishop Robinson, and also to fall in line with traditional Church theology on the matter.
