ANOTHER OPENLY GAY BISHOP?

The global Anglican Church could face another crisis if respected theologian Dr Jeffrey John is consecrated as its second openly gay Bishop.

Dr John is reportedly on the shortlist to become Bishop of Bangor in North Wales. This despite a call by the head of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, to halt any consecrations of gay clergy.

The election of the openly gay Gene Robinson to the position of Bishop of New Hampshire in the US in 2003 led to a schism within the Anglican Communion that continues to threaten to tear apart the global church.

In that same year Dr John was in the running for the office of the Bishop of Reading but was reportedly asked to step down following the furore around Robinson’s consecration.

Dr John, who is currently Dean of St. Albans in England, has claimed that although he is in a legalised long-term relationship with his partner Grant Holmes, the union is a celibate one.

Should Dr John be consecrated as Bishop next month, commentators expect this to further inflame divisions between its conservative and liberal branches, or provinces as they are called, around the world.