The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion’s 77-million followers, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has admitted that the worldwide Church now faces a very possible split following the bitter row that has engulfed the Communion over the consecration of gay clergy.
A statement issued by his Lambeth Palace office on Tuesday, Dr Williams has outlined proposals that are expected to lead to the exclusion of The Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) from the Anglican Communion as a consequence of consecrating a gay bishop in 2003, and for continuingly not backing down on the issue.
It revealed that Williams proposes that Churches should be asked to sign a formal covenant, which would allow some to be fuller members of the Anglican Communion than others.
A dual system is proposed, whereby there would be full “constituent” members to the Communion that have conformed to the traditional Biblical views of the Church, but also another section of “associate” members which will incorporate rebel and more liberally-viewed Churches.
