ROBINSON... his consecration has split the Anglican communion

THE Anglican Church in the West Indies says it will not break away from the Episcopal Church in the United States at this time, opting instead to await the findings of a commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury to examine the legal and theological implications of a controversial embrace of homosexuality by two of the church's districts in North America.

At the same time, the regional Anglican body rejected this month's consecration of Canon Gene Robinson as co-adjutor bishop in the Diocese of New Hampshire, arguing that homosexual practices were incompatible with scripture.

"We, as a province, will maintain a formal relationship with the Episcopal Church of the USA, but cannot accept the ministry of Gene Robinson as bishop," the Anglican Church in the West Indies said in a weekend statement issued after a meeting of West Indian bishops held in Antigua November 13-16.

Robinson, a declared homosexual who lives with his male partner, was consecrated on November 2 despite warnings from conservatives that the action would split the communion of 77 million worshippers.

In fact, at Robinson's consecration service in Durham, New Hampshire, Assistant Bishop David Bena of Albany, New York, speaking for 36 opposing bishops in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, said they and most bishops in the international Anglican communion would not recognise Robinson as a fellow bishop.

Last month, at the end of a two-day crisis meeting, the leaders of 37 national churches not only warned against appointing Robinson, but rebuked the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia for approving blessings for same-sex couples. They also set up a commission to spend a year examining the practical issues of administering churches, notably in the United States, which are riven by disputes over homosexuality.

It is the findings of that commission that the West Indian Church leaders are awaiting, apparently to determine their future relationship with the Episcopal Church.

The archbishop of the West Indies, Most Rev Drexel Gomez, who is also bishop of The Bahamas, as well as Ruby Knottage, chancellor of the Diocese of The Bahamas, are members of the Canterbury Commission, which is required to submit its findings and recommendations by September 30, 2004.

Archbishop Gomez chaired the meeting of West Indian bishops, at which the Jamaican church was represented by Lord Bishop the Rt Rev Dr Alfred Reid; bishop of Mandeville, the Rt Rev Dr Harold Daniel; bishop of Montego Bay, the Rt Rev Dr Howard Gregory; and the retired bishop of Jamaica, the Rt Rev Dr Neville deSouza.

The meeting was attended by bishops of seven of the eight dioceses which comprise the Anglican communion in the West Indies, except for Guyana whose bishop sent apologies. However, the Diocese of Guyana was represented by Dr Barton Scotland, a layman with a PhD in law.

The regional bishops also "re-affirmed the Resolution on Human Sexuality passed at the 1998 Lambeth Conference and which, in summary, rejected homosexual practices as incompatible with scripture, while calling on the church to minister pastorally and sensitively to all, irrespective of sexual orientation.

The Lambeth resolution also condemned irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and commercialisation of sex. It also stated its objection to any blessing of same-sex unions and the ordaining of those involved in same-sex unions.

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