Anglican Mainstream has responded to the recent communiqué released by Global South Primates which called for a two-church split in the Episcopal Church in the U.S. as a solution to divisions over homosexuality.
Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream, told Christian Today that the communiqué was an "epoch-making statement" and said it represented the "new reality of the Communion".
The communiqué, released at the Global South Primates meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, last month, criticised the 75th General Convention's response to the Windsor Report,, declaring, "Some of us will not be able to recognise" Katharine Jefferts Schori "as a Primate at the table with us" at next February's Anglican Primates' Meeting.
It also stated: "The time has now come to take initial steps towards the formation of what will be recognised as a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the USA."
Dr Sugden said: "The Global South primates have taken clear ownership of their membership of the Anglican Communion. They have taken action to promote Economic Empowerment, and Theological Education. They have taken initial steps to provide primatial oversight for a new Anglican Structure in the USA themselves without seeking the permission or blessing or funds or anything else from the Anglican Communion Office.
"Their claim to represent 70 per cent of communicant Anglicans is now taken for granted."
The communiqué has been well-received across the Communion, with the exception of the Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, Njongonkulu Ndungane, and the Primate of the U.S. Episcopal Church, Bishop Frank T Griswold, who said that a split in the Episcopal Church would lead to chaos.
The American Anglican Council (AAC) has welcomed the communiqué in a statement which commended the Global South Primates for what it called their "bold intervention" to address the crisis over homosexuality within the Anglican Communion.
The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, AAC President and CEO, said, "The Kigali Communiqué is an action plan attesting to the Global South's visionary leadership in a time of chaos and crisis in our beloved Communion.
"It is sure to inspire and encourage biblically faithful Anglicans in North America - this is what we have hoped and prayed for since 2003."
Bishop Jack Leo Iker of Fort Worth Diocese in Texas, one of several dioceses to request alternative oversight from the Archbishop of Canterbury, also welcomed the communiqué and expressed his "sincere gratitude" for the "courageous leadership and pastoral concern" of the Global South Primates.
