US Anglicans set for split over gay bishop

US Anglicans opposed to the election of a gay bishop are set to adopt a stern resolution at an emergency conference in Dallas, Texas, threatening to split the church unless Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, intervenes next week to prevent the appointment going ahead.

In apocalyptic language the draft statement, likely to be agreed tomorrow, calls on the US Episcopal Church to repent its "unbiblical" actions and reverse the appointment. It appeals to the primates of the worldwide Anglican communion, which the archbishop heads, to create a new alignment.

It wants "faithful" bishops to extend their jurisdiction over parishes in dioceses whose bishops voted in favour of the appointment of Gene Robinson, the church's first openly gay bishop, at the Episcopal Church's convention in August.

Such a move would split the church in America, widen the breach in bishops' authority over their dioceses - a traditional pillar of Anglicanism -and may open the way for realignments across the world. The impression is spreading in the Church of England and the US Episcopal Church that many cannot wait for it to happen.

To rapturuous applause, the Rev David Roseberry, one of the organisers of the Dallas gathering and rector of one of the biggest churches in nearby Plano, exclaimed: "What an incredible event we are about to witness. There's an electricity among us. It's the power of the Holy Spirit renewing His church. Amen!"

Organisers of the conference yesterday banned four representatives of the US primate Frank Griswold, including two bishops. They were told that the 2,674 worshippers attending the three-day conference felt betrayed and abandoned by church leaders following the decision to ratify the appointment of Canon Robinson.

Canon Robinson, elected bishop of New Hampshire by members of his diocese in June, is a divorced father of two who lives with his male partner. He is receiving police protection following death threats.

Dr Williams, who heads the 70 million-strong worldwide Anglican communion, has called an emergency meeting of the church's 38 primates in London next week to discuss the crisis.

The four envoys from Bishop Griswold - who voted for Canon Robinson's appointment - were told they could attend only if they signed up to a declaration called A Place to Stand, dissociating themselves from "teachings and practices contrary to scripture and the Anglican perspective."

The four had planned to bring a message from Bishop Griswold offering a promise to listen with care "and the ear of the heart" to the gathering.