Gay Bishop Says He Will Not Take Post

A gay clergyman whose appointment as a bishop divided the Anglican Church has decided not to take up his post, the Church of England said. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the decision by the Rev. Jeffrey John should give Anglicans “pause for thought.”

“This has been a time of open and painful confrontation,” Williams said. “We need now to give ourselves the proper opportunities honestly to think through what has happened and to find what God has been teaching us.”

In a letter, John said he made the decision because of “the damage my consecration might cause to the unity of the Church.” Several bishops said his appointment violated church teaching that gay sex is “incompatible with Scripture.”