Anglican Church: LGBT Recognition Raises Possibility Of 'Two Track' Structure

LONDON — The worldwide Anglican Communion may have to accept a "two track" system in which churches can hold different opinions about gay clergy and same-sex unions, the Archbishop of Canterbury said Monday in a bid to keep the church unified.

Rowan Williams outlined his thoughts on the future of the deeply divided church body on his Web site in response to the recently completed General Convention of the Episcopal Church, the communion's U.S. branch.

At the meeting, Episcopalians authorized bishops to bless same-sex unions and research an official prayer for the ceremonies. The church also voted to effectively drop a pledge that it would act with "restraint" when considering any more openly gay candidates for bishop.

The moves dismayed more traditional Anglicans, and Williams, the communion's spiritual leader, is now trying to keep the communion unified.

He wrote that "a blessing for a same-sex union cannot have the authority of the Church Catholic, or even of the Communion as a whole," but suggested there may have to be a "two-track" model where the church allowed different viewpoints on certain issues.

He said there could be "two styles of being Anglican, whose mutual relation will certainly need working out, but which would not exclude co-operation in mission and service of the kind now shared in the Communion." He urged that such an arrangement not be spoken of "in apocalyptic terms of schism and excommunication."

The 77 million-member Anglican Communion is the third-largest grouping of Christian churches worldwide, behind the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.

The Episcopal Church caused an uproar among some Anglicans in 2003 by consecrating the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, and Williams has struggled since to keep the church from splitting.

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Four conservative U.S. dioceses and dozens of individual Episcopal parishes have voted to leave the national denomination since 2003. Many have affiliated with like-minded overseas Anglican leaders. The Anglican Church of Nigeria started a Convocation of Anglicans in North America, including breakaway Episcopal churches in Virginia.

Anglican leaders had pressed Episcopalians for a moratorium on electing more gay bishops, and asked the church not to develop an official prayer for same-gender couples.

But the Episcopal Church noted last week that a growing number of U.S. states allow gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships, and gave bishops in those regions discretion to provide a "generous pastoral response" to couples in local parishes.

Williams said in his article that homophobic violence and prejudice was "sinful and disgraceful," but that the church's Bible-based teachings on homosexuality could not be overturned easily. He compared the state of those in gay relationships to heterosexual couples living together without being married.

"Whatever the human respect and pastoral sensitivities such persons must be given, their chosen lifestyle is not one that the Church's teaching sanctions," he wrote.

Williams' article drew a mixed response in the U.S.

The Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, the Episcopal gay advocacy group, said she was disappointed that Williams portrayed the U.S. moves toward inclusion for gays and lesbians as "solely a political or rights-based position" when the Episcopal Church has cited a theological basis. But she welcomed keeping the communion together in a way that would not classify branches as superior or inferior.

"What the archbishop is really stating is the reality: that the structures that have served the Anglican Communion historically need some work," Russell said. "The 21st century is different than the 16th century."

Canon Kendall Harmon, a traditionalist leader in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, said while there are positives in Williams' latest attempt to hold the Communion together, the Anglican leader left unanswered key questions about how a two-tiered system would function.

"It's going to increase the chaos in the province of the American church, and in the Anglican Communion," Harmon said.

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On the Net:

http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/

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AP Religion Writer Eric Gorski in Denver contributed to this report.

Comments

[hallowellboy]

How come Jesus never mentioned anything about homosexuals in the 33 years he walked the earth? Do you think it may just be that he loved all people and did not see the distinction? He mentioned love for each other many times. Act less "religious" and more Christ-like.

[Grada3784]

:..the church's Bible-based teachings on homosexuality could not be overturned easily."

I don't think they'd have any more problems than they had with divorce.

[jwCA]

"Therefore God, in keeping with the desires of their hearts...g­ave them up to disgraceful sexual appetites, for both their females changed the natural use of themselves into one contrary to nature, and likewise even the males left the natural use of the female and became violently inflamed in their lust for one another, males with males, working what is obscene and receiving in themselves the full recompense, which was due for their error." (Romans 1:24,26,27)

[Paulo1]

Nice Biblical citation. Now a little context please.

The word "therefore" means in response to and responses are only understood in context to the original event. To understand this passage one must first understand what the cause was. Your failure to add that critical information makes your citation worthless.

Secondly the three little dots mean you have left out a section of the full quotation. Leaving out whole sections of Biblical text is hardly what one would consider ethical and opens you up to charges of manipulation of the text for your own purposes. After all one can easily dot his way into any saying. "And the Lord said...Lov­e thy neighbor..­.and he was called Adam"

In a college level paper you citation is a very good example of why my red pen goes nuts with big huge circles and the word NO plastered across the page. As theology it is a very good example of selective interpretation though and if you were using it for that purpose I would give you an A.

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

Thankyou for your post. I get it but sometimes can't express myself properly. You are right on the mark.

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

This scripture implies that the people made a choice. Homosexuality is not a choice.

[Daniel Wilkes]

Indeed it isn't. I think that's the point that those who choose to follow the Bible literally when it comes to homosexuality fail to grasp. The Bible was written by people who could not imagine the existence of stable, loving homosexual relationships. To them, homosexual acts were performed solely for pleasure by people who were in fact meant for procreation with members of the opposite sex. Something which might be more reasonably seen as immoral. The Bible should be interpreted in line with modern society. We don't still perform sacrifices, we don't have slavery, we don't marry close relatives.­.. why is this? Because society has evolved beyond such things.

The other problem with using quotes from the Bible "about homosexuality" is that they may in fact not be about homosexuality. The above quote is sometimes interpreted by others to mean straight men abandoning women for men for fun. Other examples include in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 where the Greek words supposedly used for "homosexuals" and "sodomites"- "malakos" and "arsenokoites" were not nearly so rigidly defined as the right-wing likes to believe. Meanings ranging from "male prostitutes" to "effeminates" have been used for the former, and the latter is such a rarely used word that nobody who actually knows Greek can agree on what it means. Note, John the Faster said: "In fact, many men even commit the sin of arsenokoitia with their wives." So one thing is for sure, that word cannot refer to a solely homosexual sin.

[mommadona]

God needs "Don't ask, don't tell" (?)

Delusions of grandeur - normal outcome of ORGANIZED religion

These people really need to get a life and out of religion.

[PlaceboStudman]

A fractured organization of religion can only be a good thing. I only hope that other organized religions will follow suit and fracture into liberal and conservative schools, and continue to fracture more and more as society evolves, until the day comes in a millenia or two when there will be no need for Organized Religion, and an individual's relationship with the unknown forces of the universe will be personal and not subject to control from politically driven people whose only intention is to control other human beings through spiritual blackmail

[jco2008]

Yeah, then you can go back to the good old days of slavery and exposing unwanted infants.

[UncleJimbo]

Why would any GLBT person believe in the Christian religion anyway? Why would any woman for that matter? The Book makes them sinners or second class!

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

UncleJimbo you need to go to the Episcopal Church. We do not proof text. Too many people are stuck in the last century. If you want to be an Episcopalian be prepared to ask hard questions and find the answers. We don't tell you what to believe. We ask,"What do you think?"

[jco2008]

Yes, and all theology should be based on what an individual thinks. Just ask Charles Manson.

[pakaal]

"the church's Bible-based teachings on homosexuality could not be overturned easily."

Please, enough already. There's, what, two general references in the New Testament? And Christians shouldn't be quoting the Old Testament anyway, since the New Testament is supposed to supersede the Old. Remember, that whole thing Jesus said about his two commandments vs the original ten?

...Unless that is, those who quote from the Old Testament's Leviticus are also ready to wear their beards long, wear all white clothing (and no mixing cotton and wool!), and stop women from entering houses of prayer when menstruating. If they're not ready to accept all the proscriptions, they should stop cherry-picking.

[jco2008]

>There's, what, two general references in the New Testament?

Uh, wrong. Christ's explicit description of marriage as between a man and a woman settles the matter, if nothing else does.

[Grada3784]

You mean the one where He discussed/forbade divorce?

[pakaal]

What I take away from this is that the Anglican Church is saying "some Christians are more equal than others."

[force fed up]

If you can't get your Jesus loving followers to love all people regardless of their sexual orientation, then perhaps your church should cease to exist since it obviously hasn't been teaching the ways of Jesus anyway.

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

Lets say that you have a teenage child. All of that childs life you have made them wear a seat belt in the car. They get a drivers licence and they get in an accident but they weren't wearing a seatbelt and they are now in a coma....I love how non-believers think believers should be perfect. You people miss the point completely.

[force fed up]

And churches miss the point of Christ's teachings entirely. Nice that you failed to even grasp that.

Also, your seatbelt analogy does not work on me, because if it was my kid, I'd beat the coma out of them for being so stupid.

[Jaywalkker]

That would be in British Society, where gays have been allowed to openly serve since 2000(?) and Civil Unions are recognized. Here in the states, good old fashion homophobia still has a pretty tight rein.

[deluk]

I don't believe it's "British society" that's the issue. Williams has to appease the whole of the Anglican church, i.e the Africans, Asians, who tend to have less liberal views on the subject.

[OceanSize]

Desperate flailings just to stay relevant. Society is leaving them behind faster than they can keep up.

[clearwaterclearmind]

love the band that shares your name.

[OceanSize]

You mean the band that wrote the song that shares my name? ;-)

[Pansey]

Its so simple....­.........L­ove one another.

Leave all the judging to God.

Live in peace and harmony; respect all.

Is this too much to ask?

Humans are so self destructiv­e.........­...

[OceanSize]

It really is that simple. Makes you want to scream at the heavens, doesn't it?

[PrinceOfMombasa]

"Two-track" is the politically correct way of saying SCHISM.

Nice job there, Rowan.