Gay bishop dismisses Anglican report

New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly homosexual prelate, predicted yesterday that an upcoming report judging the effect that his consecration has had on the world’s 70 million Anglicans would not lead to a split.

“I think the communion will be a stronger place for having had this conversation,” Bishop Robinson said during a visit to the downtown Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, which attracted 315 persons, three times the normal Sunday-morning attendance. “I think it will stay together.”

A number of same-sex couples, he said, identified themselves at the door of the church, where the bishop, dressed in a bright gold and green cape, stood to greet parishioners.

The bishop arrived in Washington on Friday to receive an award from the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual-rights lobby based in the District.

It was the first time that Bishop Robinson — who dined last night with Washington Episcopal Bishop John Chane — had visited the Diocese of Washington since his consecration.

Despite his warm welcome here, nine of the world’s Anglican provinces have cut ties with the 2.3-million member Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, because of Bishop Robinson’s consecration on Nov. 2.

About one-tenth of the Episcopal Church’s members in the country are aligned with a new conservative network of 11 dioceses, 1,100 clergy and 735 churches opposing the new bishop.

Two British newspapers, quoting anonymous sources, say a report to be released Oct. 18 in London will levy sanctions against the Episcopal Church for its actions.

But Bishop Robinson shrugged off the possibility, saying it is canonically impossible to undo his consecration and that the debate over his sexuality is a mere difference of opinion.

“I don’t think this is all about the authority of Scripture,” he said. “It’s all on our interpretation of Scripture.

“We believe God didn’t stop revealing God’s self when the canon of Scripture was closed,” he said. “We worship a living God, not one who checked out 2,000 years ago.”

The Bible has been “hijacked by the religious right,” he said. “That is our Bible. It’s time we take it back.”

He continued, “I keep on saying to gay and lesbian people: Let’s reclaim this book. It is our story.”

For instance, the Old Testament book of Exodus is the “greatest coming-out story in the history of the world,” he said at a Sunday school forum.

“Gay and lesbian people know what it’s like to be slaves in Egypt,” he said. “We know what it’s like to hear of the promise of freedom in the Promised Land; we know how scary it is to step out and leave Egypt [by] leaving the closet; and we know what it’s like to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and wonder why it’s taking so long.

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