The latest from Lambeth in Ruth Gledhill's blog

The openly gay bishop of New Hampshire must resign if the Anglican church is to be saved from schism, a senior Archbishop said today.

The Archbishop of Sudan, Dr Daniel Deng, who has the backing of more than 150 bishops and archbishops from 17 provinces in the Global South, said that if Bishop Gene Robinson was to be true to his Christian faith he had no alternative but to step down.

And he called on the 60 bishops who consecrated him, many of whom are at the ten-yearly Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, Kent, to confess, repent and beg for forgiveness for taking the Church to the point of schism.

"God is not making a mistake creating Adam and Eve," he said. "He would have created two Adams if he wanted."

Dr Deng's statement attacking The Episcopal Church of the US was followed immediately by a leading traditionalist US bishop who called on all bishops in sympathy with Bishop Robinson to leave Canterbury.

The Right Rev Jack Iker, Bishop of Forth Worth, said: "Those Bishops who stand in solidarity with Gene Robinson should withdraw themselves from further participation in the Lambeth Conference. Having failed in several attempts to include Gene in the Conference, his supporters should themselves feel a sense of rejection from the Conference itself.

"Integrity and honesty would dictate that they should stand with Gene — excluded from full participation in the Lambeth Conference. Is this all talk, or is it backed up by action?"

The statements from Dr Deng and Bishop Iker show that the Archbishop of Canterbury's attempt to unite his warring bishops by sequestering them in a three-day retreat at Canterbury have failed.

With Tuesday marking just the second day of official business and nearly two more weeks to go, the outlook for the Anglican Communion is looking increasingly grim. The conservative bishops are down in number by the 230 boycotting the event but there are enough of them in Canterbury to make clear their increasing anger with the liberal direction the Western Church is taking.

Dr Deng, who comes from a country ravaged by repeated famines, where more than two million people have lost their lives in 21 years of war and more than four million people have become refugees or been internally displaced, said that he had decided to come to the Lambeth Conference to make the voice of the Church of Sudan heard by the West.

"I am making this statement on behalf of my people," he said.