Single issue at divided Synod

By Robert Pigott
BBC religious affairs correspondent

Church leaders must have suspected the meeting of their parliament, the Synod, would be difficult.

Canon Jeffrey John was not at the Synod

Delegates arrived at York University with the church more divided than at any time since the ordination of women more than a decade ago.

This time the dispute was about sexuality, an issue going even more to the heart of what Anglicanism is all about.

As bishops, clergy and ordinary churchgoers strolled the covered walkways, gossiped in the student bars and sunned themselves on the brick lakeside terrace, the conversation was dominated by the case of Canon Jeffrey John, the gay cleric who was appointed to be bishop of Reading and then abruptly resigned.

Canon John isn't at the Synod but he is casting a long shadow over it.

Homosexuality is an issue dealt with in the Bible and traditionalists say the message is clear: that active homosexuality is wrong.

Liberals want the Bible interpreted less rigidly, drawing on the experience of modern life.

For each side this has become a matter of principle and the customary Anglican spirit of compromise is in short supply.

Dr Williams wants unity and reflection on the gay issue

It's up to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams to do all he can to keep the Church intact.

He persuaded Canon John to resign his post for the sake of unity after intense pressure from traditionalists including conservative Anglicans overseas.

There was pressure from delegates for a debate about Jeffrey John but Dr Williams ruled it out.

He said the debate should be about more than Canon John and take place only after the publication of a discussion document in the Autumn; any earlier and the debate would be insufficiently informed.

The Synod was interrupted by a gay rights protest

On Saturday a group of gay activists tried to force the Synod to talk about homosexuality.

They invaded the stage, shouting and brandishing banners calling on the church to repent 2000 years of discrimination against homosexual people.

A few feet away the archbishops of York and Canterbury listened in silence for 30 minutes before walking out.

Close ranks

The effect of the invasion was for the synod to close ranks.

The question and answer session that evening contained searching enquiries on such subjects as the lifestyle of prospective bishops and why gay clergy should keep their sexuality secret.

The Synod has shown it has no appetite for pointless bloodletting

But it was all very polite.

The immediate crisis has been averted but it hasn't been solved. Dr Williams has called for unity and reflection, neither of which he insists will be easy.

His own role in the shortlist appointment of Jeffrey John has fixed attention on his leadership of the church.

Wait and see

Dr Williams has disappointed liberals for whom Canon John has become a symbol for a more progressive and inclusive church. and done nothing to allay the suspicions of the conservatives who objected to his leadership from the start.

But the synod has shown it has no appetite for pointless bloodletting.

Among the dressed down bishops, clergy in mufti and sunburnt lay people, it's a mood of wait and see.

Staring into the abyss reminds Anglicans of what they have in common and most are willing Dr Williams to succeed.