Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury.
#5. The Episcopal Church At Odds Over Gays
The U.S. Episcopal Church and its parent, the Anglican Communion,
continue disintegrating over the issue of gay Christians. Beyond the human
cost of this slow-motion implosion — sparked by the Episcopal Church's
decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop in 2003 and to accept same-sex
unions — the nasty split has already hatched custody battles over church
property: Courts are generally being asked to determine whether the
conservative parishes seceding from Episcopalianism over the gay issue can
take their buildings with them — or whether they belong to the Episcopal
diocese. On a global scale, the battle is among the 79 million members of
the Communion, who, in a recent count, appear to be almost equally divided
over whether to continue to accept U.S. Episcopalians into the international
Communion. Equally divided, that is, if you're talking strictly about
proportions of the Communion's 38 provinces. By another measure, a majority
of believers are on the conservative side, and a majority of the money is on
the liberal side. A mess.