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US Episcopal Church nears divisive meeting

Posted on: Saturday, 10 June 2006, 07:10 CDT

By Michael Conlon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Episcopal Church faces a fractious debate next week over the controversy caused by the consecration of the church's first openly gay bishop, which has rubbed raw relations with fellow Anglicans worldwide.

The Church leadership has crafted proposals it believes will address concerns within the 2.3 million-member U.S. church and from abroad.

But before the nine-day triennial General Convention opens in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, some critics said they expected very little movement on issues such as banning the blessing of same-sex unions or elevating more gays to the episcopate, increasing the likelihood of further divisions down the road.

Groups representing gay Episcopalians are already mobilized to prevent the convention from backtracking.

"My hope and guess is that there will be vigorous debates, but not scarring ones," said Mark Sisk, Episcopal bishop of New York. Some disagreement is a sign of vigor, he added, but "when you've got debates that are rending, that's not healthy either."

He told Reuters a report issued by a special commission at the behest of the church leadership and which he helped chair should give the bishops and other church representatives at the meeting a "glimpse of a way to move forward -- not ideal, but acceptable."

The U.S. branch of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion has been in turmoil since the last convention three years ago approved the elevation of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relationship in more than 450 years of Anglican Church history.

The report Sisk referred to offered a number of resolutions that will be considered along with others at this year's convention.

ADMONISHMENT TO CONGREGATIONS

Among them is an admonishment that congregations use "very considerable caution" in elevating gays to bishop; that clergy not authorize public blessings of same-sex unions until the worldwide church agrees on a policy; and that the entire convention reiterate a statement the Episcopal bishops made last year saying they regretted the pain the Robinson consecration caused.

Those proposals are all "inadequate" in the view of the Anglican Communion Network, a group of about a dozen U.S. bishops and followers who are seeking a return to what they see as orthodoxy. The proposals do not respond to a critical report commissioned by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, according to Canon Daryl Fenton, chief operating officer of the network.

The U.S. Episcopal Church is one of a number of national churches that make up the worldwide Anglican community.

The Rev. Todd Wetzel of Good Shepherd Church in Cedar Hill, Texas, said he expected the convention would not change its stance on expressing regret for Robinson's consecration. The current position, he said, amounted to saying, "I'm sorry you're hurt, which is not the same as saying you regret it happened."

When it comes to blessing same-sex unions -- a practice conducted at some churches, but never formally sanctioned by the Episcopal leadership -- the convention will likely leave the current situation untouched, added Wetzel, executive director of Anglican United, another conservative group.

While the U.S. Episcopal Church has had a number of rifts since its birth after the American colonies broke away from Britain, none is as serious as the current one, which mirrors a divide in U.S. culture, Wetzel said.

The implications are not as broad for the church in the United States, which has a history of churches breaking into differing denominations, he said.

But having one part of the church perceived as pro-gay is a different story for a global church facing competition in Africa from Islam, which does not tolerate homosexuality, he added.

Source: REUTERS

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