It is not working. With each passing day, liberal and revisionist bishops in the US and England are spewing their faux outrage over Welby's failure to allow spouses of homosexual bishops to join them in the trenches to hear the glossalalia cries of theologians exegeting I Peter.

These progressive bishops have a point. Welby and Fearon said they couldn't come because it would violate Lambeth resolution 1:10 passed in '98. The two key sections of that resolution read thus: "In view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage; (and we) cannot advise the legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions." That's pretty clear.

Homosexual bishops' spouses should not be denied access to the conference, they cry. Technically, they are correct. Once you accept the notion that sodomy is good and right in the eyes of God, and clearly Welby does, then on what grounds can he deny the other half coming! Lambeth Resolution 1:10 has already been breached! By inviting even one practicing homosexual bishop, Welby has violated the resolution, uninviting the other half is nothing more than sheer hubris and hypocrisy.

Of course, the spouses will go and they will walk around the University of Kent and offer themselves to the Times, Guardian, Telegraph and the Independent for sympathetic interviews. They will only be denied listening to the predictable, highly forgettable deep thinkers on matters of concern with special guests and keynote speakers, seminars, plenary sessions and discussions that will soon be forgotten.

Of course, if any orthodox bishops do attend, they will be corralled into small Indaba groups. These are designed for one purpose only, to break down the resistance of orthodox bishops so they can feel the faux pain of sodomite bishops who can't wait to tell them that any opposition to their behavior is a mark of hate and homophobia. Under the watchful eye of Idowu-Fearon, the orthodox bishops will be silenced and Welby will declare victory. None of this is new. The Episcopal Church House of Bishops has been practicing this for years. Small groups became the leverage to silence orthodox bishops. Frank Griswold was a genius at doing this.

It will all look like a repeat performance of Gene Robinson, who cruised the grounds of the university talking to all the media he could find, thus grabbing the headlines away from the mundane business of keeping the communion together. The outcome saw Rowan Williams depart the leadership of the communion eight years before he had to, with a massive howitzer blast from Nigerian primate Nicholas Okoh sending him on his way.

Welby's fate will be no less. He has offended orthodox Anglican bishops calling GAFCON a ginger group and they, in turn, have said they will never attend as long as the ABC remains conflicted over homosexuality. Another group of orthodox bishops are weighing their options.

But the outrage from "offended" progressive bishops is heating up in cyber space.

The bishops of New York, Andrew ML Dietsche and his assistant Bishop, Mary D Glasspool, a lesbian, huffed and puffed about Welby's exclusion of Glasspool's spouse Becki to the main event and wrote a letter saying they were "alarmed" at Welby's action. "We have considered not attending, in protest over this extraordinary action," they said, "but in the end we have concluded that we cannot in conscience remove the voice of the Diocese of New York from the larger conversations at Lambeth regarding sexuality and the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the full sacramental life of the church?

Then she launched in with this body blow; "When will the church accept to it the gift of the LGBTQ community? Young people are watching us. If they haven't written off all of Christianity for being homophobic, they do find The Episcopal Church inviting and inclusive."

(The only problem with that statement is that compromise on sexuality issues is not making Episcopal parishes grow. Every Episcopal diocese is in numerical decline with no sight of any turning around.)

The truth is, wild horses couldn't keep them away. Who would miss an opportunity to express in high dudgeon with much faux hand wringing an opportunity to tell the ABC what an uninclusive homophobe he is! A gorgeous moment to rub it in and then roll out a queer flag to commemorate their not being invited. It will be a photo op not to be missed. The Daily Mail will love it. Mary and Becki will simply not get to meet the other Queen. I faint.

Of course, HOD President Gay Jennings had already opined that monies should be withheld to teach Welby a lesson about who really runs the show and who holds the purse strings, but we all know that that is not going to happen because "love" Bishop Michael Curry would lose all his influence if the purse strings tightened and the check book was withdrawn. But at the next HOB meeting in North Carolina, the progressives will sniff the air of righteous indignation and wring their hands and say, ever so politely, that hate and homophobia should not be entertained.

Of course, Welby has a card up his sleeve if he chooses to play it. He could remind the HOB that the Methodists in the US just blew off sodomy and same sex marriage and agreed to stick with what the Bible says about marriage (thank you, Africa) leaving Methodist homosexuals and their progressive pals without a paddle or a canoe to paddle in. One wonders if any of the gelded Communion Partner bishops will come out in support of Welby, don't count on it.

The Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, a liberal Anglican bishop said he would stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ crowd and not take his wife as an "act of exclusion." That's heavy celibate punishment for ten days. Oh the pain.

The real zingers will come when a theologian unpacks I Peter and discovers that holiness is one the great themes of that book, with Peter declaring; As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Oops.

Or this; "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (I Peter 2: 11-12)

It's quite possible that the homosexual bishops present will, on hearing these words, implode and leave Lambeth, but not before they hold a press conference blasting the Archbishop of Canterbury and his cohorts for being homophobic and declaring the Apostle Peter simply new nothing about committed homosexual relationships.

END