NYT: Episcopals Rebuff Demands on Stance on Gays
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2007

Responding to an ultimatum from the leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion, bishops of the Episcopal Church have rejected a key demand to create a parallel leadership structure to serve the conservative minority of Episcopalians who oppose their church’s liberal stand on homosexuality.

The bishops, meeting at a retreat center outside of Houston, said they were aware that their decision could lead to the exclusion of the Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion, an international confederation of churches tied to the Church of England.

The bishops have a “deep longing” to remain part of the Communion, they said, but they are unwilling to compromise the Episcopal Church’s autonomy and its commitment to full equality for all people, including gay men and lesbians.

In a strongly worded statement issued Tuesday night, the bishops said the Communion’s attempt to impose a parallel authority structure “violates our founding principles as the Episcopal Church following our own liberation from colonialism.” The bishops inserted a gentle reminder that the Episcopal Church long ago declared itself independent from the Church of England. the rest