Episcopal Same-Sex Unions Left Up to Local Churches
MINNEAPOLIS — Amid signs of escalating tension in the worldwide Anglican Communion over confirmation of its first openly gay bishop, the nation's Episcopal Church leaders drew the line Wednesday on church-wide ceremonies for blessing same-sex unions.
The day after the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson won consent as the next bishop of New Hampshire, the bishops pulled back slightly and appeared to give tacit approval to leaving decisions on blessing gay and lesbian unions to local priests.
From the halls of the convention center here to Anglican churches around the world, reaction to Robinson's confirmation was swift and plain. About a dozen lay and clergy deputies wore ashes on their forehead Wednesday morning as a sign of penance for the bishops' action.
The Episcopal Church is one of 38 self-governing national churches within the Anglican Communion, which claims 77 million members.
In Nairobi, Kenya, the Very Rev. Peter Karanja, provost of All Saints Cathedral, said the U.S. Episcopal Church "is alienating itself from the Anglican Communion." He added, "We cannot be in fellowship with them when they violate the explicit Scripture that the Anglican Church subscribes to. We'd counsel they reconsider the decision. It's outrageous and uncalled for."
Bishop Lim Cheng Ean, head of the Anglican Church of West Malaysia, said bishops from the communion's nine-nation Southeast Asian province may discuss severing ties with the U.S. church at a meeting next week.
The divide between Anglicans in developing countries and those in the U.S. is the result of theological and political differences, observers in Minneapolis said. The church's mission is also shaped by differing needs and cultural demands.
In Minneapolis, a dozen members of the church's House of Deputies, which consists of priests and lay members, walked off the floor and several turned in their credentials, saying they were going home. Most, however, remained or simply chose not to vote for a day. But there was no mass walkout, according to church spokesman Jim Solheim.
"Patient waiting is essential without jumping to any conclusions about who will and who will not remain in the Episcopal Church," said Bishop Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island, who voted for Robinson.
