By Liz Hogarth
In London

Those opposed to the appointment of avowed homosexual Canon Jeffrey John as the new Dean of St Albans received some heavyweight support recently when the Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, said the preferment seriously undermined pleas for restraint.
In the diocese of St Albans, the Rev Canon Nick Bell, Vicar of St Mary’s Parish Church, Luton, who represents over 40 evangelical clergy and laity in the St Albans diocese ‘dismayed’ by the appointment of Canon John, told Southern Cross:  “We are heartened to receive support from the Archbishop of the West Indies, particularly as we are linked to three of his dioceses.” He added: “I just hope that it (the appointment) is not going to lead to schism.”
Elsewhere a church in north London recently told the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Rev Christopher Herbert, it would withhold its entire quota – the ‘tax’ paid by parishes to central diocesan funds – in protest at the appointment. The Rev Charles Dobbie, the minister of Holy Trinity church in Barnet, said he blamed Bishop Herbert for approving the appointment of the gay, but celibate cleric. He plans to give the money to a Christian charity that offers therapy to homosexuals to encourage sexual ‘transformation’. Bishop Herbert called the protest ‘misdirected’. As yet there are no signs that other churches will follow suit, but Canon Bell said that withholding the quota was ‘an option’ he and others might consider.
Last year Dr John, currently ministering at Southwark Cathedral, was persuaded to withdraw as Bishop of Reading after a storm of protest from Anglicans around the world. This time the appointment is less senior – his ministry will be confined primarily to the Cathedral and he will not have pastoral oversight of clergy – yet many Anglicans fear his appointment will still lead to some being unable to give full support to the ‘mother church’  of their diocese.
Anglican Mainstream, a network of Anglicans concerned about Biblical orthodoxy, called recently for a meeting with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to protest at the appointment, which is in the gift of Number 10.
Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream, said they were still waiting for a ‘substantive response’ to their request.
“The appointment is a provocative one,” said Dr Giddings, a member of General Synod and the Archbishops’ Council.
“Anyone who is familiar with what has happened in the Anglican Communion and the Church of England in the last 18 months will recognise that to appoint Jeffrey John would lead to a very strong reaction.”
However, despite the protests, there is evidence of considerable goodwill towards Dr John from some quarters within his new diocese.
The fact that his installation date was recently brought forward by three months to July is widely seen as a signal of the Cathedral’s support for the appointment