The bishops will also consider whether to issue -- and if so, how to word -- a formal apology for the uproar their decision in August 2003 has caused within the 77 million member worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Episcopal Church is one small division within Anglicanism, representing some 2.3 million members. Largely conservative in membership, the majority of Anglicans view the action by American bishops as an act of hubris that defies biblical teaching against homosexuality.

Eighteen months ago, the group voted to allow ordination of V. Gene Robinson as Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, despite the fact that he is openly gay and living in a longtime relationship with his partner. Bishop Robinson was formally installed in his new post last year. He is viewed as a high-profile advocate for gay rights.

After several states voted on measures to ban same-sex marriage in November, he told students at Colby College in Maine, "I think it's arrogance and hegemony and a simplistic and moralistic view of the world," according to a story in the Bangor Daily News. "There's a lot in Scripture about arrogance. It seemed to be the thing that made Jesus the angriest of all."

The bishops' discussions will be based on recommendations issued by the Anglican Communion's top leadership last fall, dubbed the "Windsor Report," calling for the moratoriums and an apology from the U.S. bishops. While discussions have been under way within the church since the report was issued, the meeting here will be the first to formally address the report's recommendations.

While Bishop Robinson said he was initially stunned by the recommendations of the Windsor Report, he told the New York Times in October that he is hopeful about the U.S. bishops' response to it, saying the wording "leaves (some) 'wiggle room' to continue blessing same-sex couples." He also said the report asks bishops to express regret for the turmoil caused by their decision, but not for the decision itself.

Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish, leader of Utah's Episcopal Diocese, has been vocal in her support for both Robinson's ordination and the church's blessing of same-sex unions. In fact, she commissioned the creation of formal blessing rites for same-sex couples within the diocese last year.

Though she declined additional comment on the issues before the meetings begin next week, the Rev. Dan Webster, director of communications for the diocese, said he believes the meeting is "another defining moment in the history of the Anglican expression of Christianity."

Writing in the current issue of the local diocesan newspaper, Diocesan Dialogue, the Rev. Webster said any decisions made by the House of Bishops "will likely change the Anglican Communion as we know it," but he predicted the group won't come to any definitive decision on their response to the Windsor Report's recommendations until at least 2006.

The Rev. Webster said the meetings will be closed to both the media and the public, noting the sensitive nature of the topics at hand.

While most of those who voted to ordain Bishop Robinson are likely to attend, a few conservative bishops who opposed the ordination have boycotted the most recent meetings of the group.

But at least two of those -- Bishop Robert Duncan of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Bishop Jack L. Iker of the Diocese of Fort Worth -- are coming to Salt Lake City next week, their communication directors told the Deseret Morning News.

Suzanne Gill, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Fort Worth, said Bishop Iker and a handful of U.S. bishops left the group after the vote to ordain Bishop Robinson was taken, and appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury -- head of the Anglican Communion -- for a response to what they view as an illegal departure from church law.

"Now that their response has been received in the Windsor Report, they're returning this time to the bishops' meeting in the hope that they'll take up the questions of the directives given" in the document, she said.

When asked whether Bishop Iker is hopeful the Windsor Report's directives will be followed, she said she doesn't know what he thinks will happen in Salt Lake City. "I know he's prayed about it and is going to be God's servant. He has good will about wanting to take on those questions addressed to the church."

Bishop Duncan will also attend the meeting, according to Pittsburgh Diocesan spokesman Peter Frank, who said he anticipated the bishop would likely make a statement from the conservative Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. That group, led by Bishop Duncan, was formed in late 2003 by conservative U.S. bishops and their followers at the suggestion of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in direct response to Bishop Robinson's ordination.

It consists of ten U.S. dioceses, including Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy, Rio Grande, San Joaquin, Springfield and South Carolina. Bishop Duncan leads the group, which has gained formal recognition within many Anglican provinces worldwide.

The group describes itself as "a united, biblically-driven missionary movement dedicated to bringing the 'true and legitimate' expression of Anglicanism to North America, making disciples of Jesus Christ. . . . For many Episcopalians, the ACN has come to represent the hope for a return to the historic faith and order of Anglicanism."

Rev. Webster of the Diocese of Utah said in addition to the proposed moratoriums and apology, the Windsor Report calls for adoption of a formal "Anglican Communion Covenant," which would likely detail rules for membership within the Anglican Communion and outline disciplinary or expulsion procedures for those who violate the covenant.

He believes that topic may consume most of the bishops' time, and such a covenant would ultimately mean U.S. churches and bishops "must stop consecrating openly gay priests . . . and cease any further blessing of same-sex covenant unions. The choice for Episcopalians may come down to honoring the commitment to gay and lesbians that they are full members of the church and be excluded" from Anglicanism, "or exclude gay and lesbian persons from full participation in the church to remain in global federation of Anglican churches," he wrote.

"The pendulum of Anglicanism has swung throughout its 460-year history. . . . That pendulum has produced its share of martyrs for this or that expression of what Anglicanism really, truly is."

END

Episcopal bishops to discuss gay ordination issue in Salt Lake

By Jennifer Dobner

Associated Press Writer
Friday, January 7, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Episcopal bishops seeking ways to mend the rift over homosexuality that has strained relations between the American denomination and its sister churches worldwide plan to gather for a closed-door strategy session next week in Utah.

U.S. bishops are scheduled to spend Wednesday and Thursday in Salt Lake City, discussing their response to recommendations from an emergency panel of Anglican leaders on how the loose, global association of churches called the Anglican Communion can remain unified.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of Anglicanism.

The gathering is the first of several meetings in which Episcopalians will discuss the study, called the Windsor Report, which chastised the U.S. church for consecrating its first openly gay bishop without fully consulting overseas Anglican leaders who opposed his election.

New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who lives with his longtime male partner, is expected to attend the meeting. Conservative American bishops who had boycotted previous meetings with him plan to attend this gathering as well.

''I believe this is a pivotal meeting,'' said Cynthia Brust, a spokeswoman for conservative Anglicans, who have formed a network of dissenting dioceses and congregations. ''I believe the (conservative) bishops will push for real decision and action.''

It is unlikely that the bishops will take dramatic steps to address global tensions next week, ahead of a critical gathering of Anglican leaders next month in Northern Ireland.

The task for American bishops is made more difficult by the fact that many Episcopalians -- and even members of the emergency panel -- disagree over what the Windsor Report has asked of them.

Generally, the report sought apologies from Episcopal bishops who consecrated Robinson and suggested a moratorium on electing bishops who are in same-sex relationships.

The report also discouraged dioceses from authorizing blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. Some Episcopalians argue the report only asked bishops to refrain from developing official prayers for such ceremonies, while others contend the study recommended an outright moratorium on same-sex union ceremonies.

The report also criticized conservative bishops who have crossed boundaries, unauthorized, to lead North American parishes that cannot accept the authority of their liberal bishops.

Utah bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish declined to comment before next week's meeting, but is on record supporting Robinson and the blessing of same-sex unions. Last year, Irish called for Utah churches to create formal rites for such unions.

The 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church is a small but important part of the 77 million-member communion.

The Rev. Dan Webster, spokesman for the Utah diocese, said he is encouraged by the return of the conservative bishops.

''Their voices will be heard at the table and it will be much better,'' Webster said. ''I suspect there will be frank and earnest discussion and I believe there will be direct conversations between bishops.''

Still, it is possible that no progress will be made on divisions within the church, Webster said. The House of Bishops typically issues statements following meetings.

''They could come in and leave just as divided as when they arrived,'' Webster said.

END