LGBTs and the new Anglican church

by Yasmin Nair
Windy City Times
Wednesday Dec 10, 2008

The Anglican Communion has seen several rifts in the past few years, with members divided over issues like the ordaining of women and openly gay priests. On Dec. 3, members of the Episcopal Church (the American branch of Anglicanism) met at Wheaton Evangelical Free Church in Wheaton, Ill., and unveiled a draft constitution for a newly formed Anglican Church in North America. It will be headed by Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh.

The Anglican Church’s spiritual leader is the archbishop of Canterbury, a post currently held by Rowan Williams. The Archbishop came under fire from conservatives for a statement in August that gay relationships "were comparable to marriage." Until now, Episcopalians who disagreed with their church hierarchy over such issues could defer to the authority of African and Latin American bishops. This further bolsters the idea that communities of the faithful in those areas are particularly prone to be far more socially conservative on issues related to gender and homosexuality.

According to Robert Lundy, a spokesperson for the new Anglican Church in North America, "what we have from these leaders in Africa is spiritual leadership. The leadership was not practicing traditional and faithful Christianity. These leaders from other countries give us guidance. We’re teaching nothing that hasn’t been taught for 2,000 years. We want the world to conform to the Bible, not the Bible to the world." the rest