Conservative Episcopalians argue that liberalized policies will not only alienate U.S. parishes but will also add further strain to the church's troubled relationship with church leaders in Africa and elsewhere in the global Anglican Communion.
This month, one of the communion's worldwide leadership bodies affirmed its support for moratoriums on consecrating non-celibate gay bishops and on blessings for same-sex couples. The group was led by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the communion's spiritual leader, who is scheduled to attend the Anaheim convention.
Resisting those mandates will "turn up the flame," said the Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little II, bishop of the Diocese of Northern Indiana and a leader in a group of clergy trying to strengthen Episcopal ties to the Anglican Communion. "If we take a step at General Convention that takes us down the road, we will lose more people," he said.
Still, the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, said she believes the U.S. church and its global partners can co-exist even if they disagree on the rights of gay men and lesbians in the church. She also said she did not expect this year's convention, at which bishops, clergy and lay leaders are allowed to vote, to reach a decision on the issue of same-sex blessing rites.
"We're not afraid of people watching over our shoulders," Jefferts Schori said. "We live with diversity on issues that get people charged up."
Evangelical Lutherans are weathering an equally emotional debate as they prepare for their Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, a gathering that many predict will expose deep divisions over homosexuality and biblical authority.
Denomination leaders will vote on a lengthy social statement -- "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" -- that has been eight years in the making and identifies marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Such statements are intended to guide church members in setting policy and forming judgments about social issues, officials have said.
Lutheran leaders also will consider a new policy that asks whether the church "should commit itself" to finding ways to allow local congregations, if they choose, to recognize "life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships."
Another policy asks whether the church should find a way to allow gay people to serve in ordained positions. Current Lutheran policy bars "practicing homosexuals" from ministry.
