Photo: Sue Careless 

(Staff)  A senior Church of England bishop has threatened to boycott next summer's Lambeth Conference if liberal American bishops are invited.

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali (right), said he would find it difficult to attend a Church council alongside those who consecrated or approved the appointment of Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop.

On Oct. 8 he told the Daily Telegraph: "My difficulty at the moment is not with a particular person, such as Gene Robinson, but with those who felt it right to approve and to officiate at his ordination.

"Unless they are willing to say that what they did was contrary to the Gospel, and we all of us from time to time need to repent about what we have done wrong, I would find it very difficult to be with them in a council of bishops."

Bishop Nazir-Ali told the Telegraph that profound differences needed to be resolved because the American Church had now drifted apart from traditional Christianity in a number of fundamental areas, not just in issues of sexuality.

He claimed that American clergy viewed the Bible as a man-made book, not a special revelation from God, and were increasingly weaving other faiths such as Buddhism and Hinduism into their worship. (This summer an Episcopal priest in Seattle announced that she is also a practicing Muslim; moreover, her bishop has approved of her dual adherence.

Nazir-Ali said if Lambeth was no longer to be regarded as an authoritative council, then he might be able to attend, but many would then question whether such a costly gathering had any point.

Some critics argue that the Archbishop of Canterbury is unwilling to postpone Lambeth because of the huge financial outlay that has already been made for the conference and that could not be recouped. David Anderson of the American Anglican Council said “In order to secure their booking for the University of Kent, which is the venue for the Lambeth Conference of Bishops, one deposit of £440,000 (about $880,000 USD) was due on October 1, with a second payment for the same amount due Dec. 1.”

Another English conservative, the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, has claimed that more than half of the English bishops are considering whether to attend the decennial gathering of all Anglican bishops.

Bishop Nazir-Ali backed the calls of African archbishops for Dr Williams to convene an emergency meeting of all the primates to decide whether to discipline the Americans or postpone Lambeth.

Last July the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, warned conservatives not to boycott Lambeth by rejecting the invitations issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury. “Anglicanism has its roots through Canterbury. If you sever that link, you are severing yourself from the Communion.  Don’t spend the next century trying to find your way back.”

But Nazir-Ali rejected Sentamu’s analysis. "It is nothing to do with loyalty to the Archbishop of Canterbury” he said. “In fact it may be an expression of loyalty to him to say that the Lambeth Conference has integrity."

Whole dioceses are preparing to break away from The Episcopal Church and Nazir-Ali warned the same thing could happen in England.

Days later, on Oct 12, the Church of England Evangelical Council, which represents up to a quarter of the Church’s clergy, urged English bishops to boycott Lambeth. It claimed that the liberal American bishops had torn the global Communion "almost beyond repair."

The Council, whose president is the Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, said it supported those English bishops like Nazir-Ali who are already intending to avoid Lambeth if the liberal Americans attend. The Council was also advising other bishops to follow suit. And it is urging the Archbishop of Canterbury to take some punitive action against the liberal American bishops.