A priest speaks his mind

CATONSVILLE, Md. — When the Rev. Steven R. Randall learned that his denomination had consented to the first openly homosexual bishop in mainline Protestantism, he decided he could no longer trust the Episcopal Church and its leaders.

Mr. Randall, 52, received a standing ovation yesterday after telling his 200-member congregation at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church here that he would no longer obey his bishop nor would his congregation send its monthly $5,000 pledge to the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Yesterday was the first Sunday since the ratification of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as the bishop of New Hampshire, and Mr. Randall’s word to his parish was delivered at the end of a week of rumblings and walkouts by disenchanted Episcopal clergy and laity.

“I’m not offering my resignation,” he said. “But I can no longer submit to our bishops. I will be removed in time by the authorities of this church.”

Besides the ratification of Mr. Robinson, the triennial convention of the 2.3-million-member Episcopal Church gave each diocese the option to conduct “blessings” of same-sex unions.

Comparing the denomination to a hijacked airliner, Mr. Randall said the Episcopal Church “will carry more people to hell than it will save. It is a flying coffin doomed to destruction and despair.”

“People will say I am just bailing out, but I am following God’s call as best I can. I don’t have a golden parachute. I will lose my pension, insurance, paycheck and all my benefits.”

The Episcopal Church requires its priests to obey its bishops. If not, a priest is “inhibited,” an ecclesiastical term meaning he can no longer preside at his parish nor perform clerical functions.

Bishop Robert W. Ihloff of Maryland, who was not aware of Mr. Randall’s announcement when reached at his home, said he would meet this week with the priest.

“I think there is a lot of work to be done there pastorally as well as professionally,” he said. “It’s a conservative congregation, so this does not surprise me. It has been one torn by strife and a lot of conservative feeling over the years.”

For legal reasons, Mr. Randall and other disaffected clergy are not simply walking out en masse.

But around the country, conservative Episcopalians dispatched hundreds of e-mail messages urging one another to either boycott church yesterday or wear black ribbons. Members of St. Timothy’s cloaked the church’s roadside sign in black. The interior of St. Timothy’s was covered with purple hangings, signifying mourning and penitence.

Paul Willis, senior warden at St. Timothy’s who joined in the standing ovation at the conclusion of the 40-minute sermon, said the vestry, a 12-member governing board, backs Mr. Randall.

“I cannot express how much admiration I have for our rector,” he said.

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