Synod try to avoid schism over gays

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The covenant would aim to set out a framework of faith and unity to avoid further schism in the worldwide Communion over gays.

The Archbishop of the West Indies, the Most Rev Drexel Gomez, told the Synod: "There can be little doubt that I am speaking to you at a time of great tension within the Anglican Communion. The 'bonds of affection' which once held our fellowship together are strained; indeed some would say broken.

"Rumours abound that there are plots to carry forward in some provinces a bold agenda on gay marriage, and to require toleration of it across Communion."

Archbishop Gomez, who chaired the Anglican Covenant Design Group, told the meeting in York that the covenant was the beginning of the process and not the end.

"Unless we can make a fresh statement clearly and basically of what holds us together, we are destined to grow apart," he told the Synod. "Do we Anglicans have a clear and shared identity? It is a question that our ecumenical partners are increasingly asking us.

"I believe that the covenant can only succeed if it accurately describes a sufficient basis to hold us together and for us to want to stay together, based on what we already hold and believe."

The Synod voted to accept the draft covenant and move towards developing a framework of faith and unity.

Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams suggested that the covenant could mean dividing the Anglican Communion into "associated" and "constituent" provinces.

The Anglican Communion has been debating the way forward since the consecration in 2003 of a practising gay man, Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire in the US, sparking outrage among conservatives within the Church, particularly in Africa.