What will the church decide?
Episcopal bishops gather to discuss future in Anglican Communion
By RICHARD VARA

The fate of the Anglican Communion hangs in the balance.

Will the Episcopal Church walk with the worldwide church, or will it walk away, divided by the role of homosexuals in the church?

The first steps of that walk begin Thursday near Navasota when the U.S. denomination's House of Bishops gathers for a critical four-day meeting.

The bishops are facing a Sept. 30 deadline set by the leaders of the 38 national churches in the Anglican Communion. The Americans have been asked to:

•Unequivocally agree not to authorize any rites of blessings for same-sex unions or allow the church's legislative assembly to do so.

•Agree not to approve any candidate for bishop who is living in a same-sex relationship."If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the church in the life of the communion," the primates stated at a meeting in Tanzania last month. the rest