Episcopal Church airs divisive gay issues

By Michael Conlon

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) – The U.S. Episcopal Church,
trying to quell the storm it created by consecrating the first
openly gay bishop in Anglican church history, was showered with
calls on Wednesday to repudiate the action and pleas not to
abandon gays and lesbians.

“Are we courageous enough to recognize Christ in the lives
of our gay and lesbian neighbors?” asked Bishop Gene Robinson
of New Hampshire, whose elevation to the episcopate in 2003 set
off turmoil in the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, as the
worldwide church federation is called.

“I’m convinced I’m not an abomination in the eyes of God,”
added Robinson. “Please, let us say our prayers and stand up
for right.”

He was one of dozens of church members, ordained and laity,
who took the floor in a packed hotel ballroom at the church’s
triennial convention to debate the fallout from his
consecration at the last such gathering in 2003. He is believed
to be the first openly gay bishop in more than 450 years of
Anglican history.

Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, head of the Anglican
Communion Network, a group of bishops seeking a return to what
they see as orthodoxy, spoke just before Robinson and warned it
may already be too late to repair any damage.

UNITY AT STAKE

If the convention approves, as written, a series of
resolutions crafted with the blessing of the 2.3-million-member
U.S. church’s leadership it will send a clear signal that it
has decided to “walk apart” from worldwide Anglicanism, he
said, and that unity is no longer possible.

The forum for Wednesday’s discussion was the meeting of a
committee which is considering the package of resolutions
written by a special commission formed by U.S. church leaders.
The resolutions attempt to respond to the Windsor Report, a
paper issued at the behest of the archbishop of Canterbury,
Rowan Williams, which demanded the Episcopal church apologize
for the Robinson elevation, not do any others like it and make
it plain that it is against the blessing of same-sex unions.

The committee will consider the testimony, perhaps reword
the resolutions and send a report to the two legislative houses
at the convention. One consists of bishops and the other is
made up of diocesan representatives. Final votes may not come
until Saturday.

The resolutions being debated include an admonishment that
church congregations use “very considerable caution” in
elevating gays to bishop; that clergy not authorize public
blessings of same-sex unions until the broader 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.

From the men and women testifying at Wednesday’s hearing
there were repeated claims that the resolutions are meaningless
in terms of addressing worldwide concerns, and many who said
their approval or that of even stronger statements would make
it look like the U.S. church is caving in to unwarranted
pressure on a stand it took with moral conviction.