Conservatives rebuff gay Episcopal bishop

Conservative Episcopalians are threatening to withhold millions of dollars in parish donations and form a separate U.S. church over the confirmation of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as the world’s first openly homosexual Episcopal bishop.

The Episcopal Church’s action Tuesday “shattered the Anglican family” and “departed from the historic Christian faith,” said a statement from the American Anglican Council, the lead conservative organization opposing Mr. Robinson’s elevation to bishop of New Hampshire.

The Episcopal House of Bishops voted 62-45, with two abstentions, to confirm the election of Mr. Robinson during the denomination’s annual convention in Minneapolis.

Although the AAC instructed conservative Episcopalians not to desert the denomination until international Anglican leaders weigh in, indications are that a 37-year trend of defections from the church will continue.

From a high of 3.6 million in 1966, Episcopal Church membership has dropped by one-third to 2.3 million today.

While some delegates walked out of legislative sessions in Minneapolis yesterday following his confirmation, others boycotted the convention altogether, leaving early for home.

Theological conservatives did win one related battle as the House of Bishops voted to reject a proposal to draft an official liturgy for “blessing ceremonies” to recognize homosexual unions.

But by voice vote, the bishops also overwhelmingly approved a document stating: “We recognize that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions.”

Mr. Robinson, 56, a divorced father of two who has lived 13 years in a homosexual partnership, was first elected bishop by Episcopalians in New Hampshire on June 7. Two votes in Minneapolis affirmed his selection.

Declaring “a pastoral emergency,” the AAC called on worldwide leaders of the 70-million-member Anglican Communion, to which the U.S. Episcopal Church belongs, to intervene by forming another “province” for conservatives.

The Rev. James McCaslin Jr., rector of the 600-member All Souls Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Fla., said he draped a black cloth over the cross in front of his church and would ensure that no donations from his parish reached church headquarters in New York.

“I have so many parishioners in agony and anger that I felt the need to take some measures to show that we are in mourning over the depravity of our church,” he said.

A 1990 study by the Gallup organization titled “The Spiritual Health of the Episcopal Church” showed nearly 70 percent of church members were older than 45.

Despite the “Decade of Evangelism,” a church growth effort the denomination mounted in the 1990s, baptized membership fell from 2.4 million to 2.3 million, the Episcopal Church Annual says.

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