Source: allAfrica.com, Sydney Morning Herald, Virtue Online, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Telegraph (London)
A war of words among Anglican bishops is heating up in advance of two conferences this summer at which virtually all of them will meet.

An anti-gay African bishop this week insisted that the only way to heal the rift that's been created in the church is for liberal bishops to "repent and return to Christ's teachings."

Knowing that won't happen, other conservative clerics say that it's time for the church to split up into different groupings.

The Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, made his appeal for repentance on Wednesday, while addressing journalists at the provincial headquarters in Namirembe, Kampala.

He was announcing the departure of a team of Church of Uganda bishops to the Anglican Communion scheduled for June 22-29 in Jerusalem.

According to Orombi, conservative Christians worldwide, who believe in the interpretation of the Bible that he and his fellow bishops espouse, will meet in Jerusalem to "prepare for an Anglican future in which the gospel is uncompromised and a Christ-centered mission is a top priority."

"The rift in the Church can only be bridged if the liberal bishops, espousing sexual perversion, repent and return to Christ's teachings," Orombi claimed.

The Anglican Communion is a global federation of 38 self-governing national churches that trace their roots back to the Church of England. It has been strained by the Episcopal Church's installation of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson in New Hampshire as the church's first openly gay, partnered bishop.

About 1000 conservative churchmen from 17 Anglican provinces are boycotting the Lambeth conference, the highest doctrine and policy setting assembly of the Anglican Church, in protest over the invitation of tolerant bishops. The once-a-decade gathering of bishops of the Anglican Communion that will take place at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, from July 16 to Aug. 3.

Mainly from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the conservative bishops are united on one principal issue: hostility to homosexuality.

As he prepares to leave Australia for the Jerusalem conference, the conservative archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, suggested to a Sydney Morning Herald reporter that the 450-year old communion has little hope of holding together.

Jensen argues, "This dispute is not really about homosexuality. It's really about authority and who runs the church. And fairly clearly, to most of the rest of us, God runs the church through the Bible."

Plans to split the church were provoked by the 2003 decision of Episcopalians in the US to consecrate an openly gay bishop. The church has been in turmoil since.

These troubles are about to escalate, Sydney Morning Herald reports, because many Episcopalian leaders in the US welcomed last month's landmark decision of the Californian Supreme Court that marriage is a fundamental human right.

According to the Morning Herald, some parishes in California plan to begin performing gay marriages as early as next week.

The old church was finished, Dr Jensen said. "Exploring the possibilities of this different organizational is now before us."

The conservative Anglican commentary site, Virtue Online, also reports that a schism is nearly certain.

A group of influential global Evangelical Anglicans believes that the Anglican Communion is fatally flawed and that there must be a clear and decisive separation from the See of Canterbury with the formation of a new Communion that is global in scope and truly Anglican in doctrine.

The site's author, David Virtue, cites a paper recently released by an unnamed group of clerics who argue that they can continue with their view of what the church should be only by separating themselves from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Meanwhile, the quiet country bishop from New Hampshire who is the focus of much of the wrath of the conservatives continues with plans for a civil-union ceremony with his partner of 25 years.

Bishop Gene Robinson has been accused of staging the event just before a number of critically important Anglican summits in a bid to embarrass church leaders, who have not invited him to the Lambeth Conference because of the furor surrounding his appointment.

But Bishop Robinson still plans to attend fringe events at the conference in Canterbury, and told the Telegraph the civil union is taking place now so that his partner will have more legal rights in case he is murdered by homophobic extremists at Lambeth.

He believes his life may be in danger as he has already received death threats, and has arranged to have security staff guarding him.

"I have had two threats of violence on our home answerphone, saying that I should stay away from Lambeth. There are lots of crazy people in the world who do crazy things," he said.

"I'm not willing to travel to Lambeth and put my life in danger without putting protection in place for my partner.

He added: "I don't want to be a martyr -- I just want to be a bishop."

The 61-year-old, who was made Bishop of New Hampshire five years ago, hopes to meet church leaders at Lambeth who want to discuss the divisive issue of homosexuality with him.

He believes homosexuality is widespread within Anglicanism, and that the threat of schism could be averted if the church were more honest about its extent.

Full article: Uganda: Orombi Wants Pro-Gay Bishops to Apologise | allAfrica.com
Gay death knell for the Anglican communion | Sydney Morning Herald
Anglican Communion Must Separate and a New Communion Formed | Virtue Online
Episcopal Church leader calls for prayer for Anglican bishops' gathering | Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Bishop Gene Robinson to 'marry' gay partner | The Telegraph