In what may prefigure an unprecedented realignment of the Anglican Communion, an ad hoc partnership of Episcopal bishops and overseas primates representing a majority of the Communion warned General Convention of a constitutional crisis if it voted to change historical church teaching on sexuality.

The remarkable series of communiques began on July 17 when 24 Episcopal bishops, including 14 with jurisdiction, released “An Open Letter to the Concerned Primates of the Anglican Communion.” They predicted convention approval to develop a liturgy for blessing same-sex relationships as well as consent to the election of the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson [TLC, June 29], who lives in a homosexual relationship, as Bishop Coadjutor of New Hampshire. The letter concluded with an appeal for outside intervention in what the bishops described as a “crisis of faith and order.”

“In the face of these looming departures from evangelical truth and catholic order, and in line with our commitment to oppose all such innovations in every Godly way, we do hereby affirm the moral and spiritual authority of you, the ‘Concerned Primates’ of the Anglican Communion, and do join in commitment with you to address the situation under your leadership,” the letter stated. Those with jurisdiction who signed the document include the bishops of Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Florida, Fort Worth, North Dakota, Pittsburgh, Quincy, Rio Grande, San Diego, San Joaquin, South Carolina, Springfield and Tennessee.

The primates responded in person at a hastily convened July 22-23 conference at Truro Church in Fairfax, Va. The meeting was chaired by the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria, and included other international primates, bishops from the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Churches of Canada and Australia, as well as rectors from some of the largest Episcopal churches.

“The proposed actions [by General Convention] will precipitate a dramatic realignment of the Church,” they said in a prepared statement that was read by the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr., Bishop of South Carolina, at a press conference at the close of the meeting. “The American bishops at this meeting have prayed, planned and are prepared to respond as faithful members of the Anglican Communion. Should these events occur, the majority of the primates anticipate convening an extraordinary meeting at which they too will respond to the actions of General Convention.”

Neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church was invited to the meeting in Virginia. Both published letters of their own. The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop, said on July 22 that each province has to interpret the gospel in its own way and that maintaining communion is a “sacred obligation.

"Declarations of being 'in' or 'out' of communion with one another may assuage our anger or our fear, but they can do little to show our broken and divided world that at the heart of the gospel is to be found a reconciling love that can embrace our passionately held opinions and transcend them all.”

The Most Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, said on July 23 that General Convention approval to change church teaching on sexuality is one of several issues that has the potential “of deepening the divide between provinces.”

“I should be very concerned to think that any decisions taken by a local church ignored these considerations,” he wrote in a letter sent to all primates, “and I want to encourage you and your fellow bishops to hold such questions very clearly before you in all that you do, individually and collectively. We do not have a central executive authority in our Communion; this means we are quite vulnerable in times of deep disagreement, and need more than ever to pay attention to one another.”