Staff and A.P. reports

WHEATON—Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, a strong critic of Episcopal support for gay clergy, drew protests at an appearance in Wheaton Sept. 23.

Akinola’s visit coincided with debate among Episcopal bishops meeting in New Orleans over how to answer a request by senior Anglican bishops. The bishops have asked that the U.S. church not approve an official prayer service for gay couples and stop consecrating gay bishops.

Akinola did not mention the New Orleans meeting or differences in the Anglican Communion over homosexuality, but said he believes divisions in the church spring from people straying from the Gospel as it’s written.

“Unity, yes, but before that, transformation that can only come from the power of the word of God,’’ Akinola said, addressing about 2,000 people at a Wheaton College gathering of churches called the Midwest Anglican Awakening.

Last week, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican Communion’s spiritual leader, said the goal is to find a compromise with the U.S. church, which holds a more liberal view of Biblical teachings than most Anglicans overseas.

Akinola’s appearance drew about 30 protesters who carried signs outside the chapel where he spoke.

Protester Gini Lester, a lesbian and church member, said Akinola is trying to draw churches away from the U.S. Episcopal Church, which is moving toward greater tolerance and openness toward issues important to gays.

“I don’t think he needs to be preaching hate,’’ Lester said.

The Rev. Liz Steadman, Episcopal chaplain at Northwestern University, also among the protesters, said the chapel where Akinola preached is named for her grandfather, Victor Raymond Edman, a former president of Wheaton College.

“It just made it even more personal to us,’’ said Steadman, a lesbian in a committed relationship. “We stand here firm in our conviction that the Gospel stands for justice and for love.’’

Protesters also included members of Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network.

Akinola has stirred controversy by ordaining priests and accepting leadership over breakaway churches in the United States. Anglican bishops traditionally do not ordain priests or interfere in the affairs of other Anglican dioceses outside their home countries. Williams has asked Akinola to stop interfering in U.S. church affairs, to no avail.

Akinola’s appearance in Wheaton came just days after Williams met with Episcopal bishops in New Orleans.

Anglican leaders, called primates, had set a Sept. 30 deadline for the American church to pledge unequivocally not to consecrate another gay bishop or approve an official prayer service for gay couples. Episcopal bishops dedicated their meeting in New Orleans to crafting a response.

But after two days of private talks with Episcopal leaders, Williams said, “There is no ultimatum involved.” The goal, he said, is “compromise.”

“It’s been presented, sadly, as a set of demands,” Williams said in a news conference before he left. “I don’t think that what was in the primates’ minds. In fact, I’m sure it isn’t.”

Others disagreed.

Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, head of a network of conservative Episcopal dioceses that are considering splitting from the Episcopal Church, said that Williams was “de-emphasizing the ultimatum piece to try to get the best results” from American leaders.

“A great number of the primates see that deadline very much as a real deadline,” Duncan said, “just as many of us had.”

The head of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schiori, said she expected a response to the conservative primates’ request this week, after CFP went to press.