ECUSA's Pro-Homosexual Stance Continues to Unravel Denominational Ties

by Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
December 8, 2003

(AgapePress) - A report indicates that some Episcopal Church leaders who have advocated tolerance in the homosexual controversy are not so tolerant when it comes to those with an opposing view.

The recent ordination of V. Gene Robinson, an openly homosexual bishop, by the Episcopal Church USA has caused a reverberating doctrinal split within the church. That divisive action is also being touted as the reason for the Vatican's decision to cancel a Seattle meeting of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for unity and mission.

Some leaders would suggest that dialogue is essential at such a critical time. However, Pastor John Guernsey of All Saints Church in Woodbridge, Virginia, says dialogue is complicated by the fact that liberal Episcopal bishops do not like to hear opposing viewpoints on the issue of homosexuality.

According to Guernsey, "There have been significant acts of coercion against those who stand for the orthodox faith of the church." The pastor cites one such instance, which occurred in the New Westminster Diocese of British Columbia. "The bishop, Michael Ingham, has filed ecclesiastical charges against seven clergy in his diocese for resisting this new teaching," he says.

Guernsey notes that similar struggles are under way in other cities across North America. In a case in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for instance, he says the bishop there has been sued "by liberals who are trying to intimidate orthodox clergy and dioceses [and prevent them] from resisting the agenda that's being foisted at the national church level."

Anglican Dis-Union
And while contention roils within the Episcopal Church in America, significant voices from the worldwide Anglican Communion are weighing in. Last month, a joint statement from the Bishops of the Anglican Church of Nigeria strongly condemned the ECUSA's action and refused to recognize V. Gene Robinson or his ministry.

Having previously communicated their opposition prior to Robinson's consecration as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire, the Nigerian bishops afterwards said, "Regrettably, our call and those of the over 80 percent of the global Anglican Church were disrespectfully ignored, and the Anglican Church in America went ahead to consecrate the said Gene Robinson on November 2, 2003. By this unfortunate action, they have departed from the faith, order and unity of the Anglican Church. They have impaired Communion."

And the Anglican archbishop of Central Africa recently echoed these sentiments, calling for the ECUSA's presiding Bishop Frank Griswold to either resign or repent for supporting Robinson's consecration.

According to Associated Press reports, Archbishop Bernard Malango has characterized Griswold's support for the consecration of the openly homosexual bishop as "a great betrayal" of the understanding reached among the Anglican leadership. The archbishop accuses Griswold of promoting a false gospel that saves no one, and in a letter to the presiding bishop, Malango contends that Griswold is "leading people away from Christ."

Malango's letter says to Griswold in no uncertain terms, "You have broken our fellowship. To sit with you and meet with you would be a lie. We are not one. We do not share the same faith or Gospel."

In a recent interview with Virtuosity, Rev. Canon Bill Atwood of EKKLESIA, an international network of biblically orthodox leaders, notes that the leaders of 50 million Anglicans worldwide have publicly decried Robinson's consecration, and several of the Primates have put out individual statements not only declaring impaired communion but formally breaking with the U.S. denomination. Atwood says some Anglican leaders have even said they would refuse all financial aid from the ECUSA rather than risk giving legitimacy to the apostate Episcopal Church.