The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Dr Rowan Williams, has set the dates for an urgent crisis meeting of American Episcopal bishops to be held from 11 to 13 September 2006.

The meeting will convene in New York with the firm focus set to be the accelerating demise of the Episcopal Church of the USA, as tensions continue to build up between liberal and conservative members of the Church with regards to homosexuality.

The Episcopal Church of the USA is the American wing of the worldwide Anglican Church, which has been steeped in controversy since the consecration of the first openly gay bishop Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

The situation has deteriorated even further since the members of the Church have continuously refused to bow to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s requests to show “repentance” for operating entirely against the traditional biblical views of the Church on the issue.