Conservative Anglicans to hold own meeting ahead of Lambeth 2008

|PIC1|Conservative members of the Anglican Communion who oppose the US Episcopal Church and its liberal attitude to issues like homosexuality are planning to hold their own meeting on the future of the worldwide Communion.

The meeting is scheduled for 15-22 July 2008, just before the Lambeth Conference which is held every ten years.

Both liberals and conservatives within the Communion have threatened to boycott the conference over who was invited and who was not.

The organisers of the conservative meeting have stressed that it is not an alternative to the Lambeth Conference.

In 2003, the Episcopal Church caused outrage when it consecrated the Communion's first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The move has brought the Anglican Communion close to schism.

Since then, and under pressure from traditional Anglican provinces who oppose homosexuality as a sin, the Episcopal Church has pledged to "exercise restraint" in its pro-gay stance.

Many conservatives are still not satisfied, however, saying that the Episcopal Church has yet to show true repentance.