London — The Archbishop of Canterbury, struggling to hold the Anglican Communion together amid a rift over the confirmation of a gay American bishop, said Friday he would summon Anglican leaders to meet in London in October.
The announcement came three days after the Episcopal Church in the United States defied criticism from conservative Anglican leaders around the world and confirmed the election of Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.
Episcopal bishops also angered conservative members with an affirmation that same-sex blessing ceremonies are "an acceptable practice in the church," though they rejected creation of an official liturgy for the ceremonies.
"The anxieties caused by recent developments have reached the point where we will need to sit down and discuss their consequences," Archbishop Rowan Williams said in a statement.
"I hope that in our deliberations we will find that there are ways forward in this situation which can preserve our respect for one another and for the bonds that unite us."
Archbishop Williams's summit meeting in October would occur before the scheduled Nov. 2 consecration of Mr. Robinson as a bishop of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Williams is the spiritual leader of the Church of England and of the Anglican Communion — a grouping of 38 independent churches around the world. He has no authority to impose discipline on the provinces, and they have differed in the past on the ordination of women as priests and the appointment of women as bishops.
He avoided a crisis within the Church of England in July when Canon Jeffrey John, who described himself as a celibate homosexual, withdrew from his appointment as bishop of Reading.
In 1998, the Lambeth Conference — a once-a-decade gathering of the world's Anglican bishops — overwhelmingly voted to declare homosexuality to be "incompatible with Scripture" and said homosexuals should not be ordained as priests.
Archbishop Williams, who was then archbishop of Wales, abstained from voting on that resolution. He later confirmed that he had knowingly ordained a gay man as a priest in Wales.
Since being elevated to Canterbury last year, Archbishop Williams has said he would affirm that the Lambeth resolution represented the teaching of the church — though he has not personally changed his mind.
That stand did not pacify his critics within the Church of England, and some conservative evangelicals had called for him not to take the Canterbury post.
In the cause of unity, he has urged Anglican bishops not to press ahead with controversial initiatives when there is no consensus in the communion.
Bruce Mason, a spokesman for the American Anglican Council, which represents conservatives who fought Mr. Robinson's confirmation, said his organization is grateful that Archbishop Williams has called the London meeting. The group had already planned its own meeting for October in Plano, Tex., to discuss whether to break away from the denomination.
"We're very encouraged," Mr. Mason said. "It's clear that the archbishop recognizes the gravity of this situation."
Among the proposals they would like Archbishop Williams to consider is creating another Anglican province in North America — separate from the Episcopal Church — for conservatives who want to stay within the Anglican Communion, he said.
Rev. Randy Dales, a delegate from the Diocese of New Hampshire, said Friday that he welcomed word of the meeting, as a chance for "reconciliation" with Anglican leaders troubled by Mr. Robinson's election.
Mr. Robinson has repeatedly said he wants to reach out to those who feel his confirmation would damage the church, but he also said he would not be responsible if they choose to break away. Mr. Dales agreed.
"Every person is responsible for his or her own choices and actions and responses to other people's actions," Mr. Dales said Friday morning.
Archbishop of Perth Peter Carnley, the primate of Australia's Anglican Church, said this week that he doubted the issue would tear the communion apart.
"We have to have a debate about how to apply the biblical principles ... to this modern and contemporary issue," said Archbishop Carnley, who is considered a liberal.
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