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Archbishop's right to invite under the scrutiny of Eames
Church of England Newspaper
The Archbishop of Canterbury will be at the centre of the storm facing the Anglican Communion when the Lambeth Commission reports next month.
It is increasingly said by sources close to the Commission that his powers as President of the Communion to invite Bishops to the Lambeth Conference, and other bodies of are the focus of attempts to discipline the Episcopal Church of the USA and the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada.
After the Lambeth Commission report is published on 18 October, Dr Williams will be flying to Nigeria to the meeting of the Council of African Provinces in Africa at which a number of non-African Primates who vocally opposed the appointment of a practising homosexual as Bishop of New Hampshire will also be present.
At the CAPA meeting the mind of the Bishops of the global south will be revealed as to whether they believe the "discipline" meted out to the Episcopal Church of the USA meets their demands.
Although newspaper reports have talked up the possibility of the exclusion of the Episcopal Church of the USA, it is believed that "suspension" of North American Bishops who have given the green light to same sex blessings and ratified the election of Gene Robinson from the Instruments of Anglican Unity will be the first step in discipline. A full expulsion could follow, although it is not yet clear whether any of the instruments of unity have the power to do so. It is the Archbishop of Canterbury, in consultation with the Archbishop of York who decides whether churches are in communion with Canterbury, but this need not be binding on the constitutions of all 38-member provinces of the Anglican Communion.
Last week, two English bishops, the Bishop of Willsden, the Rt Rev Pete
Broadbent, the bishop of Lewes, the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, backed a new Anglican Mainstream paper which called for a two-year suspension of ECUSA followed by expulsion if there was no repentance. The Paper firmly rejected the notion of loosening the ties of the Anglican Communion to be a federal body along the lines of the Lutheran World Federation.
"We need more than just slapped wrists,=94 said Bishop Broadbent. We need some degree of acknowledgement that the Episcopal Church has gone beyond what is acceptable."
Presiding Bishop Griswold flew into London at the end of last week to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury and to preach in St Paul's. In an interview with the BBC, Bishop Griswold expressed hope that a "juridical" solution would not be recommended by the Lambeth Commision.
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