Episcopalians upset about a gay bishop's consecration can stop part of their donations from being directed to the national church, dioceses say.
By SHARON TUBBS
Published November 16, 2003
BRADENTON - The Diocese of Southwest Florida voted Saturday to let members angered by the consecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire avoid sending money to their national denomination.
The resolution is a way of obliging members who might otherwise leave the Episcopal Church altogether, church leaders have said.
Some members have left the church since V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in a major Christian denomination, was consecrated Nov. 2. Others who disapprove of his consecration have decided to stay, but say their consciences won't allow them to give to the national church.
No one knows exactly how many people will choose to redirect donations. Traditionally, people give to their parishes, which then give 10 percent of their budgets to the diocese, which gives about 18 percent of its $2.7-million budget to the national church. In the end, less than 2 cents of every dollar a parishioner gives goes to the national church. The diocese has about 39,000 parishioners.
The diocese's decision Saturday allows church members to give nothing to the national church by discussing the matter with their rector or vestry, the parish governing body. Vestries might or might not take the broader step of redirecting a parish's contributions.
Money withheld in the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida will be redirected to the church's mission in the Dominican Republic and used to aid churches, schools, health clinics and orphanages there, Bishop John B. Lipscomb said.
The diocese had budgeted to send about $429,000 to the national church in 2004. There is no way of telling how much redirecting of funds will cut that.
On Saturday, Lipscomb rapped his gavel and scanned the 500 Episcopalians crowded in wooden pews. Designated voters will get three minutes to speak, he said. Bouncers will accost those who go over, he joked.
The delegates insisted that their differences of opinion would not usurp their togetherness in Christ.
"Scripture still says we are one body, one church," said the Rev. Sharon Lewis of Osprey, who helped draft the resolution.
The Rev. Frank Creamer, of All Saints Episcopal in Tarpon Springs, agreed that the diocese should let people redirect their money.
But he voted against the resolution, saying its wording didn't denounce gay bishops strongly enough. To him, that was as important as redirecting money.
"I don't think it really addresses the issues that the Episcopal Church is dealing with," Creamer said after the meeting. "It's a pacifying motion. The directing of funds is just a minute part of the issue."
The Rev. Ed Sellers, of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Largo, said during the meeting that he couldn't take the weakly worded proposal back to his parish, that he felt disconnected from the Episcopal Church he grew up in.
At one point, Lipscomb stepped down from the podium to give his opinion as a church member, rather than its shepherd.
"I think that this resolution as it is currently before us states very clearly what the position of this diocese is," Lipscomb said.
He opposed Robinson's ratification and voted against it during a meeting of bishops in August. He has also said he intends to remain a part of the Episcopal Church. Members applauded Lipscomb as he took his seat again.
But the clapping died down as Bill Doyle, a lay delegate from St. Anne of Grace Episcopal Church in Seminole, stepped up to the microphone.
He said he was more interested in the resolution's language concerning his beliefs than the redirection his money. The wording was too weak, he said. He didn't know whether he could continue with the Episcopal Church.
After about two hours of debate, Lipscomb asked those in favor of the resolution to stand for a final vote.
Nearly everyone in the Christ Episcopal sanctuary did. A few dozen remain seated.
Afterward, the delegates sang, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow ..."
Outside, though, Creamer and others remained less than content. He would stand his ground, he said.
"There are some things more important than the appearance of unity," he said.
Also Saturday, priests and lay delegates met in the Diocese of Florida, which includes churches in North Florida.
That diocese had held in escrow money it normally would send to the national church. Its vote Saturday allowed parishes to earmark their portions of that money for the national church or mission programs. The diocese will decide in January whether to extend that option for 2004.
"Largely, what we're trying to do is to hold steady and to not do anything drastic," communications director Virginia Barrett Barker said from her office in Jacksonville.
