Conservative Anglican leaders are secretly planning a meeting next summer for the hundreds of bishops expected to defy the Archbishop of Canterbury by boycotting the Lambeth Conference, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
The unprecedented event will be widely seen as an "alternative Lambeth", further damaging Dr Rowan Williams's hopes of averting a formal schism over homosexuals.
Aides of the Archbishop said that any such gathering, which is due to be held just before the official conference, would be perceived as a symbol of division and would send out a "negative" message.
It will also be portrayed as a rebuff to the Archbishop's plea last week for all Anglican leaders to attend the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of the Church's 880 bishops.
But sources in Africa insisted that the organisers of the summit for "orthodox" bishops do not intend to start a rival Anglican Church or undermine Dr Williams.
They said that the gathering, which is likely to be held outside England, would instead focus on positive issues such as mission, and some of the participants may also attend Lambeth.
According to the sources, the event was discussed at a private meeting last week convened by the Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola, the leader of the conservative Global South group.
A handful of other African primates are understood to be backing the initiative and many African bishops are likely to be present.
In a worrying development for Dr Williams, the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, is believed to have been consulted.
Bishop Nazir-Ali is one of a number of Church of England bishops who have indicated that they may stay away from Lambeth, even though Dr Williams said in his Advent letter last week that to do so was a "refusal of the cross -and so of the resurrection".
However, many conservatives believe that Dr Williams has sided with the Church's liberals by failing to punish the American bishops for consecrating Anglicanism's first homosexual bishop in 2003.
One insider said: "Although there is no intention to undermine the authority of Dr Williams, there is nevertheless a strong sense of frustration at the lack of any resolution of the issues before us.
"Our wish is to strengthen the unity and mission of the whole Communion."
However, the Rev Giles Fraser, the vicar of Putney and founder of the liberal Inclusive Church group, said: "This is a retreat. The reason these bishops won't come is that they know their attitudes will be subjected to ridicule in this country.
"In places like Britain, they've lost the argument."
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