To add to the problems, four bishops - three members of Forward in Faith and one evangelical - have boycotted the meeting in protest to the presence of Gene Robinson while five bishops have refused to stay at the Conference Centre.

Conference organisers scored a spectacular own goal by placing Bishop Bob Duncan, the leader of the dissenting 'Anglican Communion Network' in the same Bible study and prayer group as Gene Robinson, causing Bishop Duncan to withdraw.

"The stakes are high," noted the Rt Rev Charles Jenkins of Louisiana, chairman of the Presiding Bishop's Council of Advice, and the man tasked with presenting a programme of alternative Episcopal oversight (AEO) to the gathering. On March 20, Bishop Jenkins presented a revised plan of AEO to the Bishops who will debate the measure at a plenary session on March 22.

Liberal bishops, including the Presiding Bishop favour temporary Episcopal oversight at the whim of the diocesan bishop.

Meanwhile conservative bishops involved in the new 'Anglican Communion Network' are pressing for oversight which is largely independent of the diocesan bishop with whom individual parishes are in dispute.

Bishop Charles Bennison of Pennsylvania on March 16 wrote, "As a matter of conscience and in a desire to honour my ordination vows, I personally have no intention of implementing anything like Flying Bishops or whatever they call it even if it is adopted," by the House of Bishops.

Moderator of the Network of traditionalist dioceses, Bishop Robert W Duncan of Pittsburgh, thought the Jenkins plan was something "we could work with" as a temporary measure while the Lambeth Commission did its work.

A row has also broken out over the contents of a letter written by the Archbishop of Canterbury to Presiding Bishop Griswold. One conservative news source reported that the letter strongly urged Bishop Griswold to find a compromise solution to the crisis were not confirmed by bishops present when the letter was read.

Bishop Griswold's communications assistant did confirm that Archbishop Williams wrote to Bishop Griswold and that Bishop Griswold had read the paragraphs about the irregular Ohio confirmations held by six retired bishops last week. She did not disclose the full contents of the letter, however.

One bishop described the letter as "dull" and as having dealt solely with the Primates request that AEO take place within the parameters of a Province's canons. Bishop John W Howe of Central Florida told The Church of England Newspaper, "What he read was very mild, even bland."

Bishop Howe was not sanguine about the outcome of the meeting. Bishop Howe told us that he had been seated next to Bishop John Chane of Washington. He and Bishop Chane, a leader of the progressive caucus, were "agreed that we are not dealing with the real issues, but only symptoms of a crisis that is deeper than is being acknowledged."

One liberal bishop, Pierre Whalon, reported from the House of Bishops this week: "There is an undertone of dread as these discussions loom in our schedule.

END