The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has invited all bishops in North America, except Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire, to the Lambeth Conference of the world’s Anglican bishops scheduled next year in the U.K.

The decision not to invite Bishop Robinson was based on “widespread objections” to his consecration as a bishop in the Episcopal Church of the U.S. and the recommendation of the 2004 Windsor Report, said Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion.

“The issue is more complex than saying he’s simply not invited. The primates’ meeting in 2003 and 2005 recognized that the bishop of New Hampshire had been duly elected and consecrated according to the canons of the Episcopal Church,” said Mr. Kearon in a telephone interview. “However, for the Archbishop to give full recognition to him at this conference would be to ignore the widespread objections to his ministry in many parts of the Communion.” He added that the Windsor Report, issued by the Lambeth Commission created by Archbishop Williams to seek ways of healing the rift within the Communion over human sexuality, had encouraged the Archbishop “to exercise very considerable caution in inviting him to the councils of the church.”

Archbishop Williams is, however, considering inviting Bishop Robinson to the conference as a guest, he said. Asked what factors the Archbishop of Canterbury is considering before issuing the invitation, Mr. Kearon said, “I think he will explore with Gene Robinson whether he’s prepared to come in that way.”

Bishop Robinson said he had received the news about not being invited to the conference, held once every 10 years, “with great disappointment.”

In a statement, Bishop Robinson said that while he appreciated the acknowledgment that he is a duly elected and consecrated bishop of the church, “ the refusal to include me among all the other duly elected and consecrated bishops of the church is an affront to the entire Episcopal Church.” He added: “At a time when the Anglican Communion is calling for a ‘listening process’ on the issue of homosexuality, how does it make sense to exclude gay and lesbian people from the discussion? Isn’t it time that the bishops of the church stop talking about us and start talking with us?”

Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, said, in a short statement that she “urge(s) a calm approach to today's announcement regarding 2008 Lambeth Conference invitations, a subject on which I plan to make no formal statement at this time. It is possible that aspects of this matter may change in the next 14 months, and the House of Bishops' September meeting offers us a forum for further discussion.”

Mr. Kearon said the issue of whether to invite Bishop Robinson or not “had been on the archbishop’s mind for a long time. It has been a very, very difficult decision for him to make. This is the way he’s decided it.”

In his letter of invitation, Archbishop Williams said that “with the recommendations of the Windsor Report particularly in mind, I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion.”

Mr. Kearon also confirmed that all Canadian bishops have been issued invitations despite earlier threats of a boycott made by some primates if Robinson and Bishop Michael Ingham, whose Vancouver-based diocese, New Westminster, approved the blessing of same-sex unions in 2002, were invited to the conference. (In response to the Windsor Report, the bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada have agreed on a moratorium on same-sex blessings. The diocese of New Westminster also voted to impose a moratorium on allowing any new parishes to permit same-sex blessings, but to continue to allow ceremonies in those that have already received approval from the bishop.)

Asked whether the Archbishop of Canterbury ever considered not inviting Bishop Ingham, Mr. Kearon said, “no, it was never considered.”

Bishop Ingham, in a telephone interview, said Bishop Robinson should be invited. “If the archbishop wants to keep everyone at the table, then everyone should be invited. The unfortunate message this sends is that schismatic bishops and primates are welcome but openly gay bishops aren’t.”

Bishop Ingham also said he was surprised that the Lambeth invitations came out before the Canadian church’s General Synod in June, which will consider the issue of same-sex blessings, and before Archbishop Williams’ scheduled meeting with American bishops in September. “He’ll get a very warm welcome there,” he said, wryly.

Mr. Kearon also clarified that the Archbishop of Canterbury did not consider inviting Martyn Minns, the breakaway priest from the Episcopal Church who was recently consecrated bishop and head of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America CANA) by the primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola.

“He (Minns) wasn’t even being considered. He wasn’t eligible to be considered,” he said. “The principle in which he’s not being considered is because the Archbishop has decided that CANA and AMiA (another breakaway group called the Anglican Mission in America) are the same class.” He noted that at the time that AMiA consecrations took place in 2000, then-Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey  said that “he couldn’t accept them as regular consecrations; that he would not regard himself as being in communion with the bishops concerned, and the primates agreed to that. The two bodies are in the same position.”

Mr. Kearon also said there were a few other bishops who have not been issued invitations but it had nothing to do with the controversy over sexuality that has bitterly divided the Anglican Communion. These were bishops whose local status and standing is unclear.

In a press release, Lambeth Palace and the Anglican Communion Office said the conference, to be held July 16 to August 2008 was set to be “the largest Lambeth Conference in the history of the Anglican Communion,” with over 800 bishops of the provinces of the Anglican Communion expected to attend. Ecumenical guests and the spouses of bishops have also been issued invitations.

In his letter of invitation, Archbishop Williams spelled out what the Conference “is and is not,” adding that he has also decided to exercise his privilege “of calling his colleagues not to legislate but to discover and define something more about common identity through prayer, listening to God’s word and shared reflection.”

He emphasized that the Lambeth Conference “has no ‘constitution’ or formal powers; it is not a formal synod or Council of the bishops of the Communion, which would require us to be absolutely clear about the standing of all the participants.” (The Conference has been criticized in the past for issuing declarations and statements that are taken by some provinces as edicts that need to be enforced.)

Archbishop Williams added: “An invitation to participate in the Conference has not in the past been a certificate of doctrinal orthodoxy. Coming to the Lambeth Conference does not commit you to accepting the position of others as necessarily a legitimate expression of Anglican doctrine and discipline, or to any action that would compromise your conscience or the integrity of your local church.”

He also said, “The conference is a place where our experience of living out God’s mission can be shared. It is a place where we may be renewed for effective ministry. And it is a place where we can try and get more clarity about the limits of our diversity and the means of our Communion, so we can speak together with conviction and clarity to the world.”

Archbishop Williams also said that there would be some discussion on the proposed common Anglican Covenant that is intended to promote healing and unity in the fractured Communion.

The 2008 conference would differ from previous gatherings “in that the bishops will begin the conference with a period of retreat and reflection,” said the press statement. Most of the retreat will be held in and around Canterbury Cathedral. Discussions will take place at the University of Kent in Canterbury.

Editor's note: This story has been revised. A comment from U.S. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, which appears in the seventh paragraph, has been added. The wording of the fourteenth paragraph has also been altered.