The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, said Monday the church may have to accept a "two-tier" model for the worldwide Communion, in which believers can hold different opinions about gay clergy and same-sex unions, the AP reports.
Rowan Williams wrote on his Web site Monday that there are "two styles of being Anglican" and that both sides should work together to maintain unity. Read more at the jump.
An excerpt:
It helps to be clear about these possible futures, however much we think them less than ideal, and to speak about them not in apocalyptic terms of schism and excommunication but plainly as what they are - two styles of being Anglican, whose mutual relation will certainly need working out but which would not exclude co-operation in mission and service of the kind now shared in the Communion. It should not need to be said that a competitive hostility between the two would be one of the worst possible outcomes, and needs to be clearly repudiated. The ideal is that both 'tracks' should be able to pursue what they believe God is calling them to be as Church, with greater integrity and consistency.
Williams' comments came in response to a decision by the U.S. branch of the church last week to authorize bishops to bless same-sex unions and research an official prayer for the ceremonies. The Episcopal Church also OK'd the consecration of gay and lesbian bishops.
In 2003, Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who will speak at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Erie, Pa., at the Chautauqua Institution, a summer residential center for the arts, education, religion and recreation.
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