Reuters
Some United States Episocopal clerics have been disenchanted with their church's failure to distance itself from endorsing same-sex unions and the blessing of active homosexuals to the bishopric.

Among such clerics were Rev. William Atwood (left) and Rev. William Leo Murdoch (right). The two were consecrated as bishops by Kenyan Archbishop of the Anglican Church, Reverend Benjamin Nzimbi (centre), at the All Saints Cathedral Church in Kenya's capital Nairobi in August.

LA TIMES:

Leaders of the global Anglican Communion responded largely positively Wednesday to pledges from the Episcopal Church to use restraint in consecrating gay bishops and other contentious matters.

But an influential joint standing committee of Anglican bishops, clergy and lay leaders also called on all sides, in the continuing debate over homosexuality and biblical authority, to work harder to ease their differences and keep the 77-million-member Anglican Communion intact. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of Anglicanism.

The panel's report to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican Communion's spiritual leader, came in response to a statement by Episcopal bishops last week at a meeting in New Orleans.

Liberal stance

The Episcopal Church has been under intense pressure to roll back its, comparatively, liberal stance on homosexuality since 2003, when it consecrated V. Gene Robinson, a gay man living with his partner, as Bishop of New Hampshire.

Meeting in Tanzania in February, the Anglican Communion's top bishops, called primates, asked the Episcopal Church to state clearly by September 30 that it would stop consecrating openly gay bishops and bar official blessings for same-sex couples, or risk a diminished role in the worldwide fellowship.

In response, the Episcopal bishops last week reiterated and clarified earlier promises to "exercise restraint" in approving another openly gay bishop and to refrain from authorising official rites of blessing for gay couples. The bishops did not explicitly state they would not consecrate another gay bishop, however.

The compromise appeared to satisfy few on either end of the theological spectrum. Some theological conservatives said the bishops' response fell far short of meeting the primates' demands. Some liberals said the bishops had abandoned gay rights and church members in a bid for unity.

In its report, however, the Anglican panel said the bishops' pledges had "clarified all outstanding questions" and given the needed assurances.

At the same time, the panel urged the Episcopal Church to do more to provide pastoral care and oversight to disaffected conservatives within its ranks. At least four dioceses, including Fresno-based San Joaquin, are taking steps to break with the national church an with conservative Anglican bishops abroad. More than 50 Episcopal parishes, including several in Southern California, have done the same.

Unless adequate reassurances can be given to dissident congregations and dioceses, "there will be no reconciliation either within the Episcopal Church or within the wider Anglican Communion," the report said.

But the panel also appeared to rebuke several Anglican primates who had established networks of breakaway Episcopal parishes in the United States, calling for an end to such practices. "We believe that the time is right for a determined effort to bring interventions to an end," the report stated.

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, said in a statement Wednesday that she was pleased with the committee's finding that the church had fulfilled the primates' requests.

The report "has recognised the hard work of the House of Bishops and that our responses reflect our repeatedly expressed desire to remain in full communion with the rest of the Anglican Communion," she said.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has asked the primates to respond to the report by month end.