The gay bishop of New Hampshire, the Right Rev Gene Robinson says no progress on the issue of homosexual clergy will be made during the Lambeth Conference this summer.

“We won’t move forwards or backwards in terms of any official stand. There are to be no decisions made, no statements issued,” said Bishop Robinson, who in 2003, became the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion.

Speaking at the Hay Festival on Sunday, Bishop Robinson said: “The way it’s designed [the conference] is simply about conversations; deepening relationships.” Were a statement to be published, he added, it would mean that “a coup has taken place and that the Archbishop of Canterbury has not had the courage to rule it out of order”.

Despite being officially uninvited by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robinson plans to attend the Lambeth Conference, a three week international gathering of Anglican bishops which takes place from July 16 – August 3rd. In a bid to minimise conflict with conservative bishops, Dr Williams announced Robinson's exclusion from the 2008 Lambeth conference last year, explaining: “I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion.”

The history of the Lambeth Conference

Our historical guide traces the origins and issues that dominated the agenda at past Lambeth conferences

From the Times Archive, 1867

The first Lambeth Conference had its issues, but participants hoped future meetings would evoke the same fraternal spirit

• 1920 Conference: Birth Control

• 1958 Conference: Family Planning

• 1978 Conference: Ordination Of Women

Multimedia

• Full coverage of Lambeth Conference 2008

• Articles of faith: Ruth Gledhill's blog

• Video: Archbishop of Canterbury on Lambeth 2008

Related Links

• The history of the Lambeth Conference

• Pope urges Anglicans to "avoid schism"

Occurring once every 10 years, the last Lambeth Conference in 1998 was dominated by the issue of homosexuality and the Church. This year Some 200 Anglican bishops are expected to boycott Lambeth in favour of Gafcon, or the Global Anglican Future Conference Gafcon, an alternative, conservative Episcopal gathering labelled a “rival Lambeth.” Organised by Conservative Evangelicals, it takes place in Israel this June. Bishop Robinson said the Lambeth conference might “take a snapshot” of what the Bishops attending believed at “at any given time” and “might offer it to the Church for its own education and edification” but such views were not decisive for the Anglican communion. “We do not belong to a church in which some centralized curia tells the rest of us what we have to believe,” he explained. This reflected the essence of Anglicanism, he explained: “I believe that has something to do with why Henry VIII started this church and why Elizabeth perfected it. And part of what she perfected was this remarkable balance between interdependence and autonomy. And that’s what we are desperately trying to maintain in the Anglican Communion.”

A spokesman for the Anglican Communion said: “The Lambeth conference 2008 is to be a teaching conference and the international design group has not included in the programme any session that will deal with making decisions or voting on resolutions. The bishops and spouses will discuss many topics including issues around human sexuality and gender violence as well as a host of other topics. Again, this conference is not designed to be a decision-making body.”

Bishop Robinson, who is to marry his partner Mark Andrew in a legal union in June, delivered the 2008 President’s Lecture at this year’s Hay Festival.