It looks highly unlikely Australian Anglicans will offer US Episcopal bishops any clear support for their attempts to re-enter full participation in the worldwide Anglican Communion, despite two senior Anglicans backing the American bishops.
Both the Australian Primate, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall in his presidential address and Canon Kenneth Kearon, head of the Anglican Consulative Council, in an after-dinner speech, advised Australia’s General Synod (parliament) that US bishops had complied with requests not to consecrate another homosexual bishop and not to authorise same-sex blessings.
"What I saw at the Primates’ meeting with the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of the USA," said Canon Kearon, "was a genuine attempt by both to seriously repair the breeches of trust which have arisen."
While Archbishop Aspinall acknowledged that the Americans had not implemented a scheme to protect conservative minorities as requested because of "legal advice', he believes that overall the American response is "positive'.
General Synod was given the opportunity to record their own opinions in small group meetings. They heard the case for the Americans put by Robert Fordham, Australia's representative on the global church's top decision making body called the Anglican Consultative Council. The case against was presented by the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen.
It appeared that Dr Jensen’s speech was well-received by General Synod delegates.
"I am sure that the American response was well-intentioned,” he said. “But it has not yet healed the rift which opened as a result of their actions in 2003, because those actions arose from a way of looking at the world which most in the Communion believe to be unbiblical."
During small group discussion, there was widespread concern expressed at the American response from across many Dioceses.
Afterwards, Archbishop Aspinall said the response ‘would need to reflect the differing views expressed at General Synod in order to accurately present the Australian position’ to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
