NYT: Conservatives Expected to Split Episcopal Church

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
December 3, 2008

WHEATON, ILL. — Conservatives disaffected from the Episcopal Church are expected to declare on Wednesday that they are founding their own rival Anglican province in North America, the biggest challenge yet to the authority of the church in a five-year battle over the ordination of an openly gay bishop.

The move threatens the fragile unity of the Anglican Communion, the world’s third largest Christian body, made up of 38 provinces around the world that trace their roots to the Church of England and its leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This is the first effort to create a province defined by theological orientation, not by geography.

The schism would create two competing provinces on the same soil, each claiming the mantle of historical Anglican Christianity. The conservative group plans to unveil a constitution and canons for its new province in an event at a large evangelical church here in Wheaton, which is outside of Chicago, on Wednesday evening. the rest

Telegraph: US Anglicans form breakaway church

CBN News: New Anglican Church Constitution Unveiled

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Constitution to reunite conservative Episcopal groups