The Anglican Church conservative network Reform has asked incoming Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to resign even before he takes his seat as leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the U.S.
Reform is composed of 1,500 prominent Anglicans, including 500 priests. They say Williams must step down unless he declares that all sex outside of heterosexual marriage is sinful and renounces his past support for gays, which reportedly has included ordaining gay priests he knew were not celibate.
"We ask Rowan Williams if he is unwilling or unable, personally and publicly, to make these affirmations, to withdraw his acceptance of the nomination to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury," the group said.
The Anglican Communion is seriously divided on gays. At the left end of the spectrum, the Anglican bishop in Vancouver, Canada, recently approved church gay-union ceremonies&emdash;a move that has been virulently denounced by other bishops, in the Third World and elsewhere.
In deference to church conservatives, Williams recently said he will not impose his "personal theories" or a gay "manifesto of his own devising" on the church. That statement led to denunciations from Anglican gay activists who accused him of caving into reactionary elements and ignoring his personal conscience.
On Sept. 29, the anti-gay Anglican organization Evangelical Alliance posted a letter on its Web site in which Williams was quoted as saying: "No Archbishop of Canterbury can make policy for the whole Anglican Church, nor should he seek to do so. I have no agenda of my own to implement on this matter, and the resolutions of the Lambeth Conference [which rejected the validity of gay relationships] must determine my conduct. ... My task is to state the majority view; if asked I can expound the debates around it, but I have no business to alter it by fiat."
Outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has expressed fears that the gay issue will tear the Anglican Church apart.
"My concern is that our communion is being steadily undermined by the decisions of national bishops taking unilateral action ... usually in matters to do with sexuality, and, as a result, steadily driving us towards serious fragmentation and the real possibility of two, or more likely many, more distinct Anglican bodies emerging," Carey said.