The latest assurance by Episcopal bishops that they will not approve another openly gay bishop will do little to mend splintered relations between the church and disaffected conservative congregations in Colorado, critics say.
The announcement came Tuesday, after a week of meetings in New Orleans.
“It was completely predictable,” said Alan Crippen II, spokesman for the breakaway congregation of Grace Church and St. Stephen’s Parish in Colorado Springs, which joined a Nigerian mission called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.
At least 14 other Colorado congregations have chosen to affiliate with conservative African-led Anglican dioceses rather than identify as Episcopalian.
“It’s just a delaying tactic to keep things from coming to a head,” Crippen said.
American bishops issued their statement in response to “concerns raised by our Anglican Communion partners” that have grown since the 2003 consecration of openly gay bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
Conservative bishops have called for the worldwide Anglican church to exclude the Episcopal province from its communion.
Some bishops have offered disaffected congregations “refuge” as one of their missions.
The Episcopal bishops said in their official statement Tuesday that they would “exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidates to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.”
Rob O’Neill, bishop of the Colorado Diocese, said Wednesday that the statement was a clear answer to specific questions posed to the American bishops in February by leaders of the worldwide Anglican Church.
