The Anglican Church of America (ECUSA) is preparing for an unexpected back-down on the controversial issue of homosexuality, the Telegraph has reported.

|TOP|The ECUSA has been at the centre of the divisive issue for the past three years since it consecrated the Anglican Church’s first openly gay bishops. Since then, the issue has been openly debated across the worldwide Communion, and has left the Church body at a near-schism.

International pressure has increased greatly during this time for the liberal leaders of the ECUSA to back down, and it is thought that a conference in June will see a more compromising affair than has previously been witnessed.

Worldwide press reports have caught hold of leaked information from a private meeting of bishops in North Carolina, USA last week, and these have suggested that the American arm of the Church will “repent” for the problems they have caused in consecrating Gene Robinson as the Bishop of New Hampshire.

The ECUSA is also likely to conform with the rest of the worldwide Church by supporting a total ban on the blessing of gay unions and “marriages”, and the Americans may even apologise for allowing them to take place in the past, the Telegraph reports.

However, the Church remains adamant to still have the option to elect gay bishops, but most, it would now seem, are willing to back a call for dioceses to be extremely cautious about carrying this out.

|QUOTE|Several bishops that were in attendance at last week’s meeting in North Carolina have stated that they would look to block the consecration of a second openly gay bishop if one was chosen for the diocese of California in May. So far, three of the seven candidates for the position are known homosexuals.

The American arms of the Communion have in the past refused to back down to calls from Churches in Africa and Asia to back-down on the issue. The spiritual head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Dr Rowan Williams has also appealed to the Church to submit to pressure. However, until now there has been no compromise reached between the warring factions.

The Anglican Church’s official teachings are that active homosexual clergy and gay “marriages” go entirely against Biblical Scriptures. However, the liberal arms, so far, have argued that equal treatment to these people is a matter of justice that overrides this stance.

|AD|Over the past year, the threat of expulsion has hung over the ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada. Although the liberals still refuse to admit they are wrong on the doctrine, it is thought that they may concede that it was wrong to have taken actions independently of the worldwide body.

An unofficial e-mail circulated last week by the Bishop of Arizona, the Rev Kirk Smith disclosed that the bishops had been briefed about a series of resolutions to be presented to a meeting in June of the American Episcopal Church's General Convention, its equivalent of the Church of England's General Synod.

The email revealed the potential U-turn, and the developments now look set to infuriate gay rights lobbyists in the USA.

Rev Smith stated that he expected the resolutions to be passed and that they represented the desire of the bishops “not to do anything that would further jeopardise our standing with the rest of the Communion”.

He added, "I think one might say this represents a 'go slow' approach for our church. Without backing away from decisions we have made, it is nonetheless a clear message that we will work to conform to the requests of the majority of the Anglican Communion.”