Free Republic

One of the largest provinces in the Anglican Church has voted to “extend its jurisdiction” to cover the whole of the US. The decision marks the formal start of a "realignment" of the Anglican Communion in the row over gays and could help stave off actual schism. The province of the Southern Cone, which includes Argentina, Peru and Chile and is headed by expatriate British Bishop Greg Venables, is offering itself as a “safe haven” for traditionalist US dioceses that wish to secede over gays. The plan will allow disaffected US dioceses to leave the oversight of The Episcopal Church...

The worldwide Anglican Church suffered a dramatic new split last night when a leading conservative archbishop approved plans to adopt breakaway American dioceses, the Daily Telegraph has learned. Archbishop Gregory Venables is to allow conservative dioceses that are defecting from the pro-gay American branch of Anglicanism to affiliate with his South American province thousands of miles away. The unprecedented realignment will rock the 70 million-strong worldwide Church and escalate the bitter civil war over gay clergy that is tearing it apart. It will also dismay the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is struggling to avert a formal schism....

The concurrent Synods of the APA & REC are meeting in Orlando, Florida June 21-24, 2005 as they continue the work of finalizing the Concordat between the two churches. According to a recent press release, Southern Cone primate, ++Gregory Venables will be there & is expected to preach. Another shining star in the traditional Anglican movement will be there as well. Bill Atwood of Ekklesia will speak to the assembled, presumably about the current initiatives being undertaken by the Anglican Communion Network to provide "safe haven" from ungodly revisionist Bishops for the orthodox still in ECUSA. These two men are...