The Anglican Communion is currently in a state of transition, from one of talking about homosexuality to one which may lead to canonically lawful means of disciplining provinces that stray beyond the definable boundaries of diversity, according to the Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, primate of the West Indies.

Bishop Gomez was a keynote speaker at the Anglican Communion Institute: The Future of Anglicanism conference, Jan. 8-9 at St. Phillip’s in Charleston, S.C.

Archbishop Gomez, chair of the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations and an appointed member of the Eames Commission, made a distinction between women’s ordination, which he said is undergoing a “doctrine of reception” within the Communion, and homosexuality, which he said has brought the entire Communion to an existential identity crisis.

“The Global South primates will not attend any more meetings at which sexuality is discussed,” Archbishop Gomez said. “Structure is what the Eames Commission will address.

“We made a commitment at Lambeth to give this process a chance,” he said. “That has tried the patience of some of the primates more than others, Peter Akinola being among them. The danger of acting unilaterally or prematurely is that the Communion would shatter.”