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In editorials (called leaders across the pond), the British papers universally decry evangelicals' efforts to stop John's appointment.

"For both sides it is unfortunate that an issue so redolent of prejudice, so lurid in its public discussion and so irrelevant to the wider Christian message should have become the touchstone for one of the most bitter confrontations since the Reformation," says The Times.

In an editorial titled "The Bigots Win," the Guardian puts the blame on Nigeria and other non-Western churches: "For once the voice of the developing world has been listened to, but, sadly, it is one of the few occasions when it should have been totally ignored." John, the paper says, "should unquestionably have been promoted to send an unmistakable signal that the church has entered the 21st century."

"Dr. John's withdrawal represents a serious setback for the liberal wing of the Church in the face of protests from evangelicals who had opposed the appointment from the start," says The Times, but evangelicals are certainly not dancing in the streets.

"Our initial thoughts are relief that the decision has gone this way," Joel Edwards, head of the Evangelical Alliance U.K. (a group representing British evangelicals inside and outside the Church of England), told the BBC. "It is definitely in the interests of the church."

"There is no doubt that everyone must feel profoundly sorry for Dr. John," says Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, Australia.

This is a courageous decision, and we should remember him in our prayers. He was placed in an invidious position, indeed, one that he should never have been put into by other church leaders. … Though the challenge facing the Church of England is lessened, a range of issues remains. The crisis for the worldwide Anglican Church continues. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the rest of the Communion's leadership now has to decide what to do about parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada [where the church leadership is supporting homosexual unions] as well as the many faithful, Bible believing bishops, clergy and laypeople in the Episcopal Church in the United States [where another gay priest—this one not celibate—has been elected bishop].

But while the main battlegrounds in the Anglican Communion will be New Westminster and New Hampshire, England isn't off the hook, observers say.

"The move is likely to bring only a temporary respite in the church's continuing convulsion over the issue of same sex relationships, and represents a serious blow to Dr Williams' authority as head of the worldwide communion," says the Guardian in its news story.

"If anything," diocese of Oxford spokesman Richard Thomas told the paper, "this is going to be the start of the debate, not its conclusion."

Larry Burkett dies
Christian financial adviser Larry Burkett died Friday in Gainesville, Georgia, after a long battle with kidney cancer and heart problems. Earlier last week, doctors at the Mississippi Medical Center found him free of cancer, The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi, reported.

"He had his family with him," his physician, Patrick Sewell, told the paper. "He got to say goodbye and talk to them. When he couldn't talk any more, he wrote goodbyes to people."

Guests are welcome at the memorial service, which will take place at Atlanta's Church of the Apostles Friday afternoon.

For more on Burkett, see Christianity Today's June 2000 profile by Larry Eskridge: "When Burkett Speaks, Evangelicals Listen."

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