'Led by God,' Episcopal Priest Resigns Over Homosexual Bishop
by Jim Brown
January 6, 2004
(AgapePress) - A female Episcopal priest from northern Mississippi has become the first rector in the state to step down over the ECUSA's ordination of an openly homosexual bishop.
On Christmas Day, Sandra DePriest delivered her final sermons at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Columbus and St. John's Episcopal in Aberdeen. The former lawyer says her decision to resign revolved solely around her denomination's approval of openly homosexual Bishop Vicki Gene Robinson, who now oversees the Diocese of New Hampshire.
"I stepped down because I felt led by God to step down," DePriest explains. "I was willing to continue to fight from the inside, but in prayer I discerned that God was calling me to step down. I found myself at great conflict on the issue [and] I was willing to endure that, [but] I just felt God was leading me to step down."
While the Mississippi minister is not alone in her decision, there have not been many others in the Episcopal Church USA who have taken the step she has taken. DePriest says she understands why more of her conservative colleagues in the ECUSA have not resigned as well.
"The reason they have not been [resigning] is that they're financially tied to the church," she says, citing such things as pensions and church property. "I've called it 'ecclesiastical blackmail' because the church cannot separate because of canons in the church that have been drafted to unite the churches."
Several members of her former congregations have decided to leave with her, but DePriest says she has no intentions of forming a new church. Her husband has been attending a Methodist congregation, but she says she will be visiting other churches -- and might just have church at home with her family.
Sorry, but You're Not Welcome
Meanwhile, supporters of New Hampshire's homosexual bishop will not be welcome at the consecration of Uganda's new Anglican archbishop. Associated Press reports that invitations to Bishop Henry Orombi's consecration on January 25 were sent out before V. Gene Robinson was consecrated as bishop of New Hampshire.
The secretary of the Church of Uganda says the New Hampshire diocese replied that it was sending a delegation. But that diocese has now been told to stay away -- and so has Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, who took part in Robinson's consecration.
The Church of Uganda official says the ECUSA's "faithful bishops, opposed to gays" are still welcome to attend this month's ceremony. The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, but is less than half the size of the Anglican Church of Uganda.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
