Conservative Anglicans lament 'brokenness' of Communion

|PIC1|More than 1,000 conservative Anglican leaders were in Jerusalem on Sunday to open a week of discussions looking at the future of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, the face of the conservative movement, stopped short of forecasting an imminent schism but said that the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) was the last opportunity to salvage the 77-million-strong Communion.

"Those who failed to admit that by the unilateral actions they took in defiance of the Communion have literally torn the very fabric of our common life at it deepest level since 2003, are grumbling that we are here to break the Communion," he said in his opening address.

"Similarly, those who fail, for whatever reason to come to terms with the painful reality that the Communion is in a state of brokenness and lacked the ability to secure a genuine reconciliation, but simply carried on the work of the Communion in a manner that is business as usual are not happy with us."

The Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev Henry Orombi, declined to comment on whether GAFCON was the first step in a split from Canterbury. "Perhaps a question like that is best answered at the end (of the conference) rather than at the beginning," he said.

The Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev Peter Jensen, said that unity was the goal but admitted that it might not be achieved.

"What we would like to see is the renewal of the Communion so that we can all again walk together," he said. "I'm not confident that it can be done."

GAFCON comes just weeks ahead of the Lambeth Conference, a 10-yearly gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world.

GAFCON's head of media relations, Arne Fjeldstad, said that most of the 300 bishops attending the Jerusalem conference would boycott Lambeth.

Conservative Anglicans have been at odds with the Communion's leadership after it failed to discipline the US Episcopal Church over its consecration of the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, a move they regard as unbiblical.

Orombi urged the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to take a tougher line.

"We have been on fire for quite a while, and he just cannot leave us burning and delay. At what time will you salvage us?" he asked.

"Supposing another part of the communion begins to do something which is contrary to the word of God, how is it going to stand up and say no to that? That's my challenge."

Their concerns go beyond the issue of homosexuality, however, to the general interpretation of the Bible among liberals, and question marks over the authority of Scripture and of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

A guideline issued to GAFCON delegates, "The Way, the Truth and the Life", stated: "Repeated attempts at dialogue have been made by those committed to the teaching of Scripture. However, experience has shown that the revisionists are not willing to listen."

It added: "We want unity...but not at the cost of re-writing the Bible to accommodate the latest cultural trend."