“Jefferts Schori said that Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby “is not going to call a Lambeth [conference] until he is reasonably certain that the vast majority of bishops would attend.” The likelihood of a “vast majority” of bishops attending in the near future is slim.”

Turmoil that has rocked the worldwide Anglican Communion for the past decade isn’t about to settle down, if recent comments by Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori are to be believed. The head of the U.S.-based church told her denomination’s recent House of Bishops meeting that money was not being budgeted for an upcoming international bishops’ gathering in 2018 because it was unlikely to occur.

Although Jefferts Schori’s comments were made public on September 23, the news did not become widely known until Florida Episcopal priest and journalist George Conger broke the news on September 30, after a week of attempting to confirm with Anglican Communion officials.

An outright cancellation would be unprecedented. The worldwide family of churches has been riven in recent years by a dispute over the role and authority of scripture, often surfacing in disagreements around homosexuality.

Jefferts Schori said that Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby “is not going to call a Lambeth [conference] until he is reasonably certain that the vast majority of bishops would attend.”

The likelihood of a “vast majority” of bishops attending in the near future is slim.

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