There are at least three Churches of England that don’t communicate with each other very effectively, and “they need to learn how to do this better if they are to fulfil their primary task of witnessing to God’s transforming power,” the Archbishop of Canterbury told the C of E General Synod last month.

He also said the most trivial of the several different C of E’s is the soap opera depicted in the news media following the recent intense debate in the Church of England.

The Presidential Address to the General Synod was a powerful call from Archbishop Williams for unity in the church after the decision by Canon Jeffrey John to ask the Crown for permission to step down from his appointment as Bishop-elect of Reading in the Diocese of Oxford.

Canon John is known to have been living in a homosexual relationship with another clergyman for some 27 years, though he has stated that their relationship has been celibate for the past ten years.

Dr John’s decision followed some weeks of intense debate within the Anglican Communion, not only about this appointment but also about the blessing of same-sex unions in the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster, and the election of Canon Gene Robinson, who is living in a homosexual relationship, to be a bishop in the US Diocese of New Hampshire.

Commenting on Dr John’s decision to step down, Archbishop Peter Jensen said that though his decision had averted a crisis in the Church of England, “the crisis for the worldwide Anglican Church remains.”

Dr Jensen said that Bible-believing parishes who opposed these moves in New Westminster Diocese and in the USA, must be assured by the leadership of the Anglican Communion that will they be recognised as authentic Anglicans, that they will receive protection of their property, and that they will be guaranteed “the succession of biblically faithful leaders of congregations and dioceses”.

The UK media reported the Jeffrey John debate in full. Reports suggest that Archbishop Rowan Williams, after realising the strength of the opposition to the appointment in the Diocese of Oxford and from many Anglican Primates across the world, asked Dr John to step down for the sake of the unity of the Communion.
Commentators suggest this was a change of mind for Archbishop Williams, who had been Dr John’s friend for 30 years and had refused to ask him to step down some weeks earlier.

Informed sources claim that Dr John was not expecting this move and that he refused to sign the resignation letter he was given when he arrived at Lambeth Palace. After a six hour meeting, a mutually satisfactory letter was agreed upon and Dr John resigned because of “the damage my consecration might cause to the unity of the Church”.

The Bishop of Oxford, who had strongly supported Dr John’s appointment, was reportedly ‘incandesent’ with rage and is considering leaving the position vacant.