++Scotland: Attempts to alter Communion "will fail"

Speaking in advance of remarks he will deliver next week at Manchester Cathedral on the need for inclusive theology in the Anglican Communion, the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, says, "Attempts to try to turn the Communion into something that is controlled from the centre, with expulsion the result of disagreement, will fail."

Next week, the Primus will join the Archbishop of Mexico, Archbishop Carlos Touche-Porter, at a conference at Manchester Cathedral called "Celebrating Anglican Diversity," which celebrates the Anglican tradition of open and inclusive theology.

The Primus has assumed an increasingly visible role on the issue of inclusivity in our churches. At the Synod of the Scottish Church this past summer, he spoke strongly about the need to make the Church more open and inclusive to all. His comments in support of inclusivity and against attempts to destabilize the Communion by altering its historic character, are some of the strongest yet from a primate.

By the time the Manchester Cathedral conference takes place, the Scottish Episcopal Church reports on its website, it is possible that a few African Provinces, with their attendant US bishops, may have taken public action and split from the Communion.

According to the Scottish report, the Manchester Conference, which is an Inclusive Church event, "will consider how the Communion moves forward if a split has occurred. And what the agenda might be if it hasn't."

The fellow primate at the Conference, Archbishop Carlos Touche-Porter of Mexico, has longstanding experience of inclusion and diversity issues within the Church, including the place of gay and lesbian Christians.

He is part of an emerging network of Anglican Bishops based mainly in Latin America ("the Global Centre") aiming to celebrate the unity and diversity of the Communion and says "Inclusion is a reality in the Anglican Church, despite reports to the contrary. I am very much looking forward to being in the UK as part of our preparations for a positive Lambeth Conference."

The Scottish Primus added, "It was very obvious at the recent meeting of Anglican Primates that the vast majority wish to stay with an Anglican church that is open and welcoming and prepared to live with difference. This is Anglican mainstream and we have to make it clear that it represents majority opinion among church leaders. "