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Talk says "consensus," but announcement won't come until later today
Journalists aren't being allowed in the London meeting of worldwide Anglican leaders. Neither are any other outsiders. Still, a few of the Anglican leaders (called primates) have talked about what's going on. Ireland's Robin Eames addressed British media outside Lambeth Palace, while Australia's Peter Carnley talked exclusively to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. They both talked about how each primate was given several minutes yesterday to give an opening statement. Today is the day to come to a consensus action.

That action, says the buzz and analysis of what little has come forth so far, won't include booting the Episcopal Church USA out of the Anglican Communion, as some orthodox Episcopalians had hoped. The church may still be censured in some form.

But so far, all of this is rumor, conjecture, and speculation—and the tea leaves would certainly be read differently if the primates speaking had been conservatives from Global South rather than liberals from the West. (If you're into the speculation, though, be sure to check out comments from David Virtue and Christopher Johnson.) The official announcement will come around 9 p.m. GMT today (about 4 p.m. Eastern). Stay tuned. In the meantime, here's the latest from the mainstream press:

Anglican woes:

• Anglicans hopeful that summit has prevented split | One insider said that the conservatives no longer had majority support for their demand that the liberal American Episcopal Church be expelled for appointing Anglicanism's first openly homosexual bishop (The Daily Telegraph, London)
  
  
• Anglican leaders work to avoid a split over gay U.S. bishop | Moving toward consensus (The New York Times)
  
  
• Anglicans seek unity, contend on sexual issues | Upcoming consecration of openly gay bishop has conservatives asking for U.S. church's expulsion (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Hopes high for Church summit | Anglican church leaders are to conclude their crisis meeting amid hopes an agreement will emerge to avoid a schism over the issue of homosexuality (BBC)
  
  
• Church leaders in dire debate | Sources close to the church said the 37 primates attending the summit at the 12th-century Lambeth Palace in London were split over the Robinson appointment, with 20 primates opposed to it and 17 accepting it (The Washington Times)
  
  
• African Christians and gay rights | While many African Christians are opposed to gay rights, many are not. They worry about other, more pressing, issues (Gustav Niebuhr, Beliefnet)
  
  
• World Anglicans debate over gay clergy | After seven hours of discussion Wednesday, Archbishop Robin Eames, head of the Church of Ireland, emerged to tell reporters that he still wasn't sure how the issue would be resolved (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  
  
• Amid talk of rift, Anglicans meet | Leaders hope to prevent split over gay bishop (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Gay issue shakes Episcopalians | While primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion meet today in London, Southwest Florida Episcopalians debate whether to redirect financial support for their national church (The News-Press, Fort Meyers, Fla.)
  
  
• Anglicans try to bridge gay divide | A few primates speak (CNN)
  
  
• Alabama Episcopalians await decision | Many expect a condemnation of the U.S. Episcopal Church, led by African, Asian and Latin American Anglican archbishops who view homosexual behavior as a sin (The Birmingham News, Ala.)
  
  
• Defender of the faith | Why all Anglican eyes in London are nervously fixed on a powerful African archbishop (Philip Jenkins, The Atlantic Monthly)
  
  

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October (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47