As for conservative Evangelicals, they are threatening an outright departure from the Anglican communion.
The first female bishop ordained in the Anglican Communion was Barbara Harris in 1989.
As someone who is a woman in leadership and someone who dearly loves the Anglican communion, it was quite depressing.
The Anglican Communion (including the U.S. Episcopal Church) identifies as both Catholic and Protestant, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The issues of homosexuality and women bishops have caused public tension and deep division within the Anglican Communion during Williams' tenure.
The issue over gay bishops has blighted the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams's first year as head of the Anglican Communion.
BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | South West Wales | Unity plea over gay bishop
Many members of the 70-million-strong worldwide church - known as the Anglican Communion - believe the Bible teaches that homosexuality is always wrong.
BBC: Many Anglicans believe the Bible condemns homosexuality
The secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon, wrote to senior church leaders to announce Williams' resignation, the Anglican Communion News Service reports on its website.
It was its election of Gene Robinson - an openly gay man - as the Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, that prompted the crisis in the Anglican Communion.
Christians remained united on that teaching until relatively recently 1930, to be exact, which is the year that the Anglican Communion made its first, carefully circumscribed exceptions to the rule.
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Bishop Venables told the BBC News website that the quotation of him was accurate, but had not been meant for publication and had appeared on the Anglican Communion website without his consent.
He added that it showed the Church of England was "thinking outside the box, which is exactly what is needed, and it would be a breath of fresh air for the Anglican Communion".
He will continue to carry out all the duties and responsibilities of the Archbishop of Canterbury, both for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, until the end of the year, Lambeth Palace said.
He added that Bishop Welby's appointment would show the Church of England was "thinking outside the box, which is exactly what is needed, and it would be a breath of fresh air for the Anglican Communion".
BBC: Justin Welby set to become new Archbishop of Canterbury
Much of his time was spent on the fraught process of creating women bishops, and patching up disputes about homosexuality, in the Church of England, and in the 38 autonomous churches that make up the Anglican Communion.
In 2006 the Episcopalian Church in the United States became the first province of the Anglican Communion to elect a woman to the role of Primate (a senior bishop - the equivalent of an archbishop) - the Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori.
Williams' time in office has "coincided with a period of turmoil, change and development in the Anglican Communion, and his careful leadership, deeply rooted in spirituality and theology, has strengthened and inspired us all in the Communion during this time, " Kearon is quoted as saying.
His potential appointment has also been welcomed by Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion and the current Bishop of New Hampshire in the United States.
BBC: Justin Welby set to become new Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams - the spiritual head of the Church - said the divisions arising in the global Anglican Communion following the consecration were "a matter of deep regret".
BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | South West Wales | Unity plea over gay bishop
Another cause of discord in the worldwide Anglican communion has been the election of an openly gay bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions.
BBC: Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope to 'seek closer ties'
Pope John Paul has made a point of establishing a dialogue with other religions and other Christian denominations. (Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, is due to visit the pope this weekend.) However, he has still managed to offend or alienate many of them.
The 105th Archbishop of Canterbury has his work cut out to heal the bitter divisions in the global Anglican Communion, which are nowhere more apparent than over the fraught issue of homosexuality.
The debate over homosexuality and the role of women in the church threatens to produce a schism in the worldwide Anglican communion.
Under his leadership, the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion have been riven by controversies over women bishops and gay clergy.
In his public appearances, he has displayed a wry humor and down-to-earth attitude that may help him negotiate the minefield of conflicting views and interests within the vast Anglican Communion.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Dr Williams also revealed that the Church was drawing up plans to appoint a presidential figure to share some of the burden of running the worldwide Anglican communion.
In the 80m-strong worldwide Anglican Communion, things are even messier.
ECONOMIST: Rowan Williams��s successor will have an even harder tenure
The pope's outreach to other Christian churches including his decision to make it easier for members of the 70 million-strong Anglican Communion to convert to Catholicism was interpreted by some people as an attempt to poach faithful from rival flocks.
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