Pew Forums has published the transcript of a roundtable discussion that occured earlier this month. Part of the discussion attempts to put the present Anglican controversies into a larger perspective of global Christianity:

“Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2007 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life.

Philip Jenkins, a Penn State University professor and one of the first scholars to call attention to the rising demographic power of Christians in the southern hemisphere, analyzed the ongoing schism in the worldwide Anglican church. While the dispute concerns attitudes toward homosexuality, Jenkins argues the core of the conflict lies in how biblical authority is defined.

Will the current alliances between conservative Western and African leaders endure? Will African leaders begin to press an ultra-liberal economic agenda? Are other mainline denominations in the U.S. headed for similar splits? Jenkins answered these and others questions, while offering a fascinating glimpse into the life of African Christianity. “

Read the rest here: Global Schism: Is the Anglican Communion the First Stage in a Wider Christian Split?

It’s a long article so set aside some time…