THE former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, says today that “incalculable” damage has been done to the Anglican Church worldwide by the consecration as bishop of a practising gay man in America.

In a letter to The Times Lord Carey, an evangelical, says: “I can only add my voice to that of my successor in encouraging all those most deeply affected not to drift away from each other, but to strengthen the bonds of affection that remain at the heart of Anglicanism.”

There have been several warnings that last Sunday’s consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, a divorced father of two who lives with his male partner, could seriously damage if not destroy the unity of the Anglican Communion. Many of the churches of the Global South region have already stated that they are in impaired or broken communion with the Diocese of New Hampshire and the Episcopal Church of America.

Last night the Church of England’s third most senior bishop told evangelicals to “grow up” and play a full part in the Anglican Communion, taking initiatives instead of merely reacting to events as they happen. The Bishop of Durham, Dr Tom Wright, a biblical scholar who is himself from the Church’s evangelical wing, said that many evangelicals had “screened out” the riches of Christianity.

Dr Wright is a member of the commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in an attempt to avert schism over the issue of homosexuality. He was preaching last night at the launch of Fulcrum, a movement for “open evangelicals” which aims to “renew” the centre of the Church of England by developing a form of evangelicalism that is capable of moving beyond the present controversies over sex.

Dr Wright said: “I see the launch of Fulcrum as a call to evangelical Christians of whatever background to grow up, to work together, to play a full part in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, to make the running instead of always reacting.”

Most of the divisions within Anglicanism were caused by “barriers of culture and personality”, he said.

Speaking before the service, at the church in Clapham that was the base of William Wilberforce, the anti-slavery campaigner, 200 years ago, Dr Wright said that the Anglican Communion was facing an unprecedented situation after the consecration of Bishop Robinson. Never before had the Church faced a situation in which schism was being talked about by provinces within the Communion.

He said: “Up until now, the Anglican Communion has never really faced the question, ‘What does it mean to be in communion with Canterbury?’ We have never needed to because it was, we thought, obvious. Now we have got to a new place where we haven’t been before in the Communion.”

Bishop Wright, who was recently enthroned in Durham, said that during his parish visits around the Diocese over the past month, nobody had yet mentioned the controversy over Bishop Robinson.

He said: “One of the extraordinary things is that in all the meetings I have had in Durham over the last three or four weeks, nobody has been talking about Gene Robinson, or about sex.

“They have been talking about helping people out of debt; they have been talking about council estates where there is 30 per cent unemployment, or about celebrating the Gospel in fresh and creative ways in the middle of farming communities hit by foot-and-mouth,” Bishop Wright said.

“They have been talking about all kinds of real issues that real people in the Church of England are working hard on and doing so with energy, and that has been a real delight to me.”

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