Top Stories of 2003: Consecration of Homosexual Bishop a 'Done Deal'
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
December 31, 2003
(AgapePress) - Conservative Episcopalians are bemoaning Sunday's consecration of an openly homosexual man as bishop of New Hampshire. One theologian in the denomination describes it as "a defiant and divisive act of a deaf church" that will rip the church apart.
Vicki Gene Robinson -- an open homosexual since 1986, when he divorced his wife with whom he had two daughters -- has been consecrated as the first openly homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church USA. As Robinson's male "partner" of 14 years and his ex-wife and daughters stood beside him, the denomination declared that he could speak for God.
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Vicki Gene Robinson |
During the ceremony, the new bishop declared his belief that the Bible is the Word of God and contains "all things necessary to salvation," and his pledge to "conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church."The three-hour ceremony took place on Sunday in Durham, New Hampshire, and included several passionate objections. In addition, a group of traditionalists in the denomination held an alternative service in borrowed church in the same city. Following the consecration ceremony, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams issued a statement saying that he regrets "the divisions that are arising" over Robinson's appointment -- and that he wants to minister to "those alienated" by actions that he says "appear to go against" biblical teachings.
'The Last Straw'
It remains to be seen the extent to which splintering among the Episcopalian faithful will occur. But for Dr. Kendall Harmon of the American Anglican Council, Robinson's ordination was the "last straw" for many Episcopalians. Harmon, who preached at the alternative ceremony, predicts there will be "international fracturing as a result of the arrogant and unilateral American action."
In addition, he says traditionalists will be appealing to a network of confessing dioceses, parishes, and individuals who opposed the consecration.
"You're going to have member communions of the Anglican Communion change their relationship with the Episcopal Church," Harmon says. "Some of them will break communion with the Diocese of New Hampshire, some of them will impair communion with the Episcopal Church, and perhaps some will break communion with the Episcopal Church itself. So it's going to be a significant impact negatively throughout the whole Anglican family -- and that's 70 to 80 million people in over 160 countries worldwide."
Canon Harmon says Robinson's consecration was "a defiant and divisive act of a church that simply is not listening to God's Word."
"The clear teaching of holy scripture in both Testaments, without exception, is that sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong for the people of God -- and we're being deaf to that," Harmon says. "The vast majority of Anglicans worldwide have told us not to take this step and [that] they see it as a scandal -- and we're deaf to that."
The step taken by the Episcopal Church USA, he says, is proof that the church no longer views itself as a group of "sinners in the hands of an angry God," but rather "clients in the palms of a satisfied therapist."
"From my perspective, it's a cowardly and conforming act of a church that's capitulated to an elite culture. People like Madonna and other seemingly attractive voices are telling people to express themselves, but the heart of the problem is Jesus brought a message of salvation and transformation, not a watered-down idea of affirmation."
Harmon also says leaders of his denomination do not realize the seriousness of what they have done. Most of the church's power structure and superstructure, he says, is "in denial" about the degree of the crisis. The result, he predicts, will be like a messy divorce that winds up in court over child custody and the division of property.
Two formal protests were issued at Robinson's consecration -- one by conservative members of his diocese, and another by Bishop David Bena of Albany, New York, on behalf of his traditionalist American and Canadian colleagues. Bena said the consecration "poses a dramatic contradiction to the historic faith and discipline of the church. We join with the majority of the bishops in the Anglican Communion and will not recognize it."
A Question of Authority
Meanwhile, a group of Episcopalians in Mississippi has severed its ties with the Episcopal Church and aligned itself with a conservative ecclesiastical body known as the Traditional Episcopal Church. The new church, established as Holy Cross Traditional Episcopal Church, consists of members from four Episcopal churches in Warren County.
On the same day the Episcopal Church consecrated V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire, the group of Mississippi Episcopalians moved into the chapel of an old Catholic convent, which will be their temporary home.
The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson quotes a member of Holy Cross who says they are not "homosexual haters" -- but that "there comes a time in a person's life when he must take a stand for what is biblically correct and the true inspired Word of the Lord."
"I guess over the years, quite a few of us have been dissatisfied with the movement of the Episcopal Church USA," says Steve Golding, "but up until this last convention [when Robinson was confirmed], most of us have been tolerant."
Bishop Scott deHart, who serves as the rector for Holy Cross, says the issue is not so much a morality problem in the Episcopal Church as it is an authority problem. "At issue here is the fact the Episcopal Church has demonstrated it is in authority over the scriptures and can rewrite faith and practices," deHart tells the newspaper. "This is really not a morality problem. It is an authority problem -- man or God."
Associated Press contributed to this story.
