Anglican panel praises Episcopalians according to the headline of the article by AP’s religion writer Rachel Zoll, on the report of the Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council. She writes:
A world Anglican panel acknowledged Wednesday that Episcopal bishops are making some concessions to ease the turmoil they created in 2003 by consecrating their church’s first openly gay bishop.
But the committee said that all sides in the long-running conflict over the Bible and homosexuality need to do much more to keep the beleaguered worldwide Anglican fellowship from splitting.
and adds,
But the committee had equally frank criticism of overseas Anglican conservatives who have been consecrating bishops to lead networks of breakaway parishes in the United States that rival the Episcopal Church. “We believe that the time is right for a determined effort to bring interventions to an end,” the panel wrote.
Read it all here.
UPDATE:
The New York Times is reporting Panel Says Episcopalians Have Met Anglican Directive. Neela Banerjee writes:
In a victory for the Episcopal Church in its effort to remain in the Anglican Communion, a high-ranking Anglican advisory committee said Wednesday that Episcopal bishops had complied with a directive by Anglican leaders on same-sex unions and gay bishops.
And there’s this from Rebecca Trounson of the Los Angeles Times:
the panel also appeared to rebuke several Anglican primates who had established networks of breakaway Episcopal parishes in the United States, calling for an end to such practices.