London, England - The archbishop of Canterbury says divisions in the church have left many ordinary Anglicans confused and weary.
In a letter to leaders of the world's Anglican churches released yesterday, Archbishop Rowan Williams also said there would be no quick response to plans by seven dioceses of the US Episcopal Church to seek leadership outside that church because of their opposition to the appointment of gay clergy.
Anglican leaders have been bitterly divided over the Episcopal Church's decision to confirm an openly gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. In July, the Anglican Church in Nigeria called the US branch ``a cancerous lump" that should be cut out of the Anglican Communion.
Williams wrote that he prayed for Anglican leaders but ``most especially for all those ordinary people of God, in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere, who are puzzled, wearied, or disoriented by our present controversies."
``So many say they simply do not want to take up an extreme or divisive position and want to be faithful to scripture and the common life. They want to preserve an Anglican identity that they treasure and love passionately but face continuing uncertainty about its future," Williams wrote.
He recommended humility to all sides in the controversy. ``All our churches are, in one way or another, partly sound and partly not; and none of our churches would, on the basis of their virtue and their strength alone, merit God's approval," he wrote.
To the seven Episcopal dioceses who have sought ``alternative oversight" -- taking an outside bishop as their leader and disaffiliating with the Episcopal leadership -- Williams urged patience