Anti-gay Anglicans to stage debate

11:38am Tuesday 1st July 2008

Key figures from a movement of conservative Anglicans opposed to liberalisation of Church teaching on issues such as homosexuality are meeting to debate their proposals.

The Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev Henry Orombi, Archbishop Greg Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone, covering several South American countries, and Archbishop Peter Jensen, of Sydney, Australia, will speak at a conference on Anglicanism and English orthodoxy.

Organisers of the meeting at All Souls Church, in central London, say it is fully booked with more than 750 Church of England clergy and church wardens attending.

The three Anglican Archbishops have been at the forefront of the Gafcon (Global Anglican Future) conference of Anglican traditionalists held in Jerusalem last week.

The group, made up mainly of African churches and some orthodox Episcopalians, has insisted that it wants to remain within the Anglican Communion.

But it has proposed setting up a "church within a church" called the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans to provide an alternative to Anglican provinces they claim are preaching a "false gospel" on issues such as homosexuality.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, urged Gafcon members to work towards restoring confidence in the Anglican Communion and warned of the risks of setting up such a group.

On the separate issue of women bishops in the Church of England, 1,333 clergy, including 11 serving bishops, have signed a letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, threatening to defect if such consecrations are allowed, according to The Times newspaper.

They say they will consider leaving the Church if votes are passed at the General Synod, which starts in York this Friday, to introduce women bishops.