Ruth Gledhill reports from Tanzania: TEC 'regret' ok, says Gang of Four

Ruth Gledhill, the religion correspondent for the London Times is in Tanzania and has this report on her blog tonight:

Worryingly for a contemporary religion correspondent, I find myself in the journalistically ambivalent position of having to report that peace has broken out among Archbishops of the Anglican Church.'

That's what I wrote at 4.30pm.

Reassuringly, half an hour later, battle has recommenced. I can now report that the unity of the Anglican Communion is once more 'hanging by a thread.' Schism looms again. Phew, what a relief.

The report of the 'Gang of Four', the group set up to look at TEC's response to Windsor, has been presented to the Primates meeting in Tanzania today, Thursday. At first glance, it looked good and augured well for future unity. But initial responses from the orthodox are not promising. 'Chilling,' is how Kendall Harmon described it, warning that schism now was even closer than before. This report would have the effect of propelling TEC further away from the centre and hasten any breach that is looming, he said. The responses on the conservative site StandFirm support Kendall's analysis. And I love this analysis from the GetReligion site, from which this 'Anglican Bomb' picture is taken: 'Once again the Africans pray, the Americans pay and the British write the resolutions.'

You can read Ruth Gledhill's entire blog entry here.