Anglican Church 'in chaos' say rebel leaders

From The Telegraph (UK):

By John Bingham
Last Updated: 9:13PM BST 01/07/2008

The Anglican church is in "chaos" with the "moral authority" of the Archbishop of Canterbury lying in tatters amid growing splits over homosexuality and women bishops, rebel leaders claim.

In a direct challenge to the leadership of Dr Rowan Williams, three leading Archbishops said they had decided to "take things in hand".

Leaders of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Foca), a newly formed network for millions of Anglicans angered by the rise of liberal theology, denied that they planned to "seize power" within the church.

But Most Rev Henry Orombi, the Archbishop of Uganda, Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia, and Archbishop Greg Venables, Primate of South America's Southern Cone, said they planned to "reassert the authority of the Bible".
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Dr Williams is facing a crisis on two fronts with traditionalists flexing their muscles over the issue of gay clergy within the 77 million-strong Anglican communion at the same time as threats of splits at home over the ordination of women bishops.

The three bishops made their comments after addressing hundreds of Church of England clergy in London about the formation of the new group at the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) in Jerusalem at the weekend.

In a sign of the strong emotions aroused, gay rights activist Peter Tatchell attempted to storm the meeting before being repelled by security.

Aides to Dr Williams privately accuse the traditionalists of becoming a "Protestant sect" and forming a "church within a church".

The group, which has its own alternative council of primates, was formed in response to the ordination of the openly homosexual Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson.

In unusually strident language Dr Williams warned them on Monday to "think very carefully about the risks" of setting up the structure.

He also questioned the legitimacy of the group's "self selected" leadership.

But, in a move likely to widen the split further, Archbishop Jensen hit back publicly saying he was "surprised" that Dr Williams was not more receptive to the group's efforts to "bring order".

"There are moments in the church where authority has to be taken and this is one of those moments where the most senior people available have decided to come together to take their authority to do certain things which they have the capacity to do," he said.

"I was a little surprised by the Archbishop's remarks, I was hoping he would be very joyfully receptive to what he saw as a development of quite legitimate authority to help bring order to the chaos of the Anglican communion within the last five years."

Attacking the "mythological idea" that the Archbishop of Canterbury exercised legal or judicial power over the Anglican communion, he said Dr Williams's authority was largely "moral".

But he went on: "I would have to say that the last five years have seen a diminution of the moral authority that he is able to bring to this role."

He added that the loss of moral authority would have happened "whoever had been the Archbishop".

Fellow rebel Archbishop Venables insisted the group was not creating a schism.

"It is not a seizing of power, it is the exercise of legitimate authority for the sake of the Anglican communion, a group of leadership (correct) has got to take things in hand to move forward."

Archbishop Orombi added that he had travelled to Britain to help restore traditional theology to the "mother church".

Dr Williams faces a separate crisis at home after it emerged that hundreds of traditionalist clergy within the Church of England are threatening to defect over the issue of women bishops.

The issue is due to come to a head this weekend when the General Synod meets in York to make a decision.

More than 1,300 clerics, including three bishops, have written to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York suggesting they may leave the Anglican church if they are not given special legal safeguards.

They want to set up networks of parishes which would remain under male leadership.

But any attempt to give such "havens" legal force would spark further conflict with liberals who believe that doing so would enshrine discrimination.