|
Resurrection Anglican Church
|
|
|
Gay bishop confirmed in U.S. as traditionalists are defied
Canon Gene Robinson was named last night as Anglicanism's first actively gay bishop, despite a threat by traditionalist bishops to stage a walkout today from the Episcopal Church's General Convention. Canon Robinson was elected by a two-to-one majority of clergy and the laity. The House of Bishops still has to ratify the vote today. Up to 24 bishops in the American equivalent of the Church of England were preparing to protest after a majority of their colleagues voted to confirm Canon Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.
The bishops are planning to make a statement to delegates at the General Convention, which is being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before withdrawing from the conference centre "to pray and reflect." According to one insider, the gesture will be seen as "the beginning of the end of the Episcopal Church." The bishops expected to lead the protest include the Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt Rev Robert Duncan, the Bishop of Dallas, the Rt Rev Jim Stanton, and the Bishop of South Carolina, the Rt Rev Edward Salmon. The Rev David Anderson, the head of the American Anglican Council, the umbrella organisation for evangelical opponents of Canon Robinson, said that any protest would be dignified, but many in the church would be deeply distressed. He had said earlier that he was afraid liberals would ratify the appointment because they believed warnings that the worldwide Anglican Church would shatter as a result were a bluff. That would be a "dangerous miscalculation," he said. Tensions were palpable yesterday as delegates at the convention, the Episcopal version of the General Synod, debated the case for and against Canon Robinson, who is attending the gathering with his lover, Mark Andrew. The mood among many of the bishops as they processed into the vast domed convention hall yesterday for a service was apprehensive. In the sermon, they heard a thinly veiled appeal for restraint from Nigeria, an evangelical stronghold. "When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold," said the Archbishop of Kaduna, the Most Rev Josiah Idown-Fearon. "I want to plead with you not to sneeze too much because if you do we will all catch a very bad cold." |
|
This Web site is (and always has been) owned, paid for and operated as a courtesy to the people of Resurrection, by the webmaster, and may be withdrawn or redirected at any time at his sole discretion.
|
Love
God, neighbor and enemy. 
