The Archbishop of Canterbury this morning met Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay American bishop whose consecration has brought the Anglican Church to the brink of schism.

The meeting between Dr Rowan Williams and the controversial Bishop of New Hampshire was described as "friendly but candid".

The two men discussed the range of problems that have arisen throughout the Church following Bishop Robinson's consecration in November 2003. The meeting ended with prayer.

A Lambeth Palace spokesman said: "The encounter came as part of the Archbishop's commitment to listening to the voices of all concerned in the current challenges facing the Anglican Communion."

Bishop Robinson flew to Britain earlier today for a series of meetings and is due to speak at the Oxford Union tonight. He will then attend a series of events in London and Stockport to mark the 10th anniversary of Changing Attitude, the gay Christian pressure group.

The Rev Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, said that he was "sure" Bishop Robinson was concerned about the continuing tension within the Anglican Communion over his appointment.

But he said: "He believes, as do the majority of the Episcopal Church in the US, that after a 30-year period of exploring the place of lesbian and gay people in the church, the church made a corporate decision and believes it to be absolutely right.

"He believes that he received a call from God to be ordained as a priest and then as a bishop and nothing has changed his belief in the call since then."

He continued: "We in Changing Attitude are glad he is coming because it presents into our midst a partnered gay bishop who is legally and properly ordained by his church and makes visible and present what is already a reality.

"Here we have partnered gay bishops in England but they remain hidden to the wider church."

Bishop Robinson's visit, and the decision of Dr Williams to meet him, is expected further to inflame the liberal-conservative divide in the Anglican Church.

In a sermon in California delivered shortly before leaving for Britain, Bishop Robinson predicted that it was only a matter of time before lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual people were fully incorporated into the Episcopal Church.

"When the dust finally settles, lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual people will be fully included at every level of our church," he said. "We know what the end looks like and our enemies do too. What we are really arguing about is timing, not the final outcome. I may not live to see it, you may not live to see it, but this church of ours will see the day when all of God’s children are equal."

The Rev George Curry, chairman of the Church Society, an evangelical grouping within the Church of England, said that Bishop Robinson was not worthy of the office he holds.

"He has adopted and maintains a lifestyle that is totally contrary to the will of God as declared in the written word of God," he said. "The real question is what are we doing about the people within the Church of England and within Anglicanism who are adopting views with regards to matters sexual which are contrary to the plain teaching of the word of God.

"We have a collective failure of leadership unfortunately - there may be individuals who are the exception to the rule - amongst the bishops of the Church of England to maintain and teach orthodoxy in as clear and as gracious a manner as they should do."

Bishop Robinson has had a male partner, Mark Andrew, for the past 15 years, whom he met after the failure of his marriage. He has two grown-up daughters and two grandchildren.

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