Anglican Church

Hundreds of conservative Episcopal congregations in North America, rejecting liberal biblical views of others in the denomination, formed a breakaway church Wednesday that threatened to further divide a global Anglican body already torn by the ordination of an openly gay bishop.

As leaders of the world's 77 million Anglicans gathered here amid fears of a split in the church over divergent views on gay bishops and same-sex unions, a spokesman said the first day of discussions was characterized by "intense listening." "There has been no talk of schism in the meeting at all," said Australian Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, who briefed reporters after the closed-door sessions Thursday.

Seven conservative archbishops snubbed the head of the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Church during a crucial meeting of the church leadership here Friday, refusing to take the Holy Eucharist with her to protest her support of gay bishops and of blessing same-sex unions. The men called their action in boycotting the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the U.S.

Anglican leaders wrapping up a tense meeting here Monday called on the U.S. Episcopal Church to state unequivocally that it will bar the blessing of same-sex unions and stop consecrating gay bishops in order to heal a rift that threatens to split the worldwide Anglican Communion. The five-day meeting ended with a joint communique and without evidence of an immediate schism in the 77-million-member global church, which many had feared. But tensions remained over the U.S.

With pain, joy, anger and in some cases, relief, Episcopalians across the nation reacted Tuesday to a stern directive from Anglican leaders that the American wing of the church refrain from sanctioning blessings for same-sex unions and take other steps to heal tensions that may yet splinter the global Anglican Communion. In a crucial meeting in Tanzania that ended Monday, Anglican leaders gave the U.S. Episcopal Church until Sept.

Top Anglicans at a crucial meeting in Tanzania this week sternly rebuked their communion's American branch on issues involving sexuality and biblical interpretation. The decisions now facing the U.S. Episcopal Church and the global Anglican Communion may push them further down the road toward schism. Who attended the Dar es Salaam gathering, and what happened? About three dozen of the worldwide Anglican Communion's top bishops, or primates, participated in the Feb.

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church said Wednesday that it is being pushed toward painful decisions on questions of sexuality and scriptural interpretation by "impatient forces" eager for clarity, but she urged members to wait and be without fear as the church struggles through a difficult time. Appearing in a live webcast, the Most Rev.

Bishops of the Episcopal Church on Tuesday requested an urgent meeting with the spiritual head of their denomination, the worldwide Anglican Communion, and appeared to take the first steps toward rejecting several demands made of the American church at a recent gathering of the communion's leadership in Tanzania. In February, Anglican leaders gave the U.S. branch of the communion until Sept.

The Episcopal Church moved closer Wednesday to a showdown with the worldwide Anglican Communion, even as the church's bishops emphasized their desire to remain within that body. The bishops ended a crucial meeting near Houston with a news conference and a letter in which they rejected a call from Anglican leaders to allow dissident conservative congregations in the United States to be overseen by a separate body that could include leaders from outside the country. The U.S.

The leader of the world's Anglicans, visiting Canada for a spiritual retreat, said he had agreed to an urgent request for a meeting with U.S. church leaders as the Anglican fellowship nears a split over the Bible and sexuality. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said at a Toronto news conference that he would meet with U.S. Episcopal leaders in the fall. Last month, U.S.