Schism ‘now inevitable’ for Anglican Communion
By George Conger, CEN
The election of Mary Glasspool will likely put the final nail in the coffin of the Anglican Communion, evangelical leaders warn, and end Archbishop Rowan Williams’ hopes that an Anglican Covenant can hold the communion together.
Elected suffragan bishop of Los Angeles on Dec 5, Canon Glasspool is the first openly gay priest elected to the episcopate in the US following that church’s vote in July to end the ban on gay bishops and blessings.
While evangelical leaders have voiced disapproval with her election, but the level of discord over her election is far below that of Gene Robinson in 2003. South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence observed that it was bound to happen. “I can’t say it surprises me,” he told the Los Angeles Times, adding that the election would further divide an already crippled church.
“Is there anything that can be done to bridge it? No one has come up with it yet,” Bishop Lawrence said.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen told The Church of England Newspaper the election was “sad but not surprising.”
Its confirmation “will make clear beyond any doubt whatsoever that the TEC [the Episcopal Church] leadership has chosen to walk in a way which is contrary to scripture and will continue to do so,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the GAFCON primates Dr. Jensen Saturday’s vote “confirms the rightness of GAFCON in producing the Jerusalem Declaration and establishing the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA).”
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