As the Lambeth Conference continues, Anglican leaders working to ward off an open schism have called for a in which liberal churches would agree to stop ordaining homosexuals and solemnizing same-sex unions, while conservative Anglicans would agree to stop organizing in separate jurisdictions. The compromise, put forward by a working group chaired by Bishop Clive Handford, would create a new international group, the Pastoral Forum, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
This new group would monitor the ecclesiastical truce, and could "diminish the standing" of Anglican dioceses that broke the terms of the agreement.
The Pastoral Forum proposal would not require the resignation of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the openly homosexual bishop whose installation triggered a crisis in the Anglican communion.
However, the Episcopal Church in the US would be expected to agree that it would not ordain other homosexuals, and would not approve same-sex marriage ceremonies.
The proposal would require conservative Anglicans to agree that parishes in the US should not be placed under the jurisdiction of bishops from Africa-- an arrangement that some conservative parishes have undertaken to distance themselves from homosexual bishops.
The prospects for approval of the Pastoral Forum proposal are unclear. Episcopalian leaders in the US have already defied an international agreement by allowing the installation of Bishop Robinson, and the conservative African bishops who would be required to drop their ties with American dissenters have, for the most part, refused to participate in the Lambeth Conference. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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