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Bishops affirm backingof gays

By TOM MARSHALL
Published March 22, 2007

Episcopal bishops risked further divisions in the global Anglican family Wednesday, affirming their support for gays in the church and rejecting a demand that they give up some authority to theological conservatives outside the U.S. church.

The Episcopal House of Bishops said it views the Gospel as teaching full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church. And the bishops said they would not agree to an Anglican plan for people outside the U.S. denomination to oversee the small number of conservative American dioceses that disagree.

Area pastors who studied the communique Wednesday reached different conclusions about its significance, with one calling it a strident departure and another terming it a conciliatory plea for more dialogue.

"If it keeps heading toward division, everyone will be losers," said the Rev. Sharon Lewis of Church of the Holy Spirit in Osprey.

She described her church as theologically conservative, but also committed to reconciliation and healing.

"Our bishop certainly doesn't approve of the blessing of same-sex unions or blessing the ordination of active homosexuals," she said. "But most of us want to remain in the Anglican Communion."

The Rev. Ed Henley of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Tampa said his congregation includes parishioners "of both minds" on the role of gays in the church and has taken no official position on it.

He said the bishops' communique repeated previous church positions on the inclusion of homosexuals, but said nothing about the blessing of gay relationships or ordination.

"It's not throwing down a gauntlet. It's not doing that at all," he said, criticizing media interpretations of a complex debate. "The most measured responses are coming out as inflammatory."

Speaking in a resolution issued from a meeting in Texas, the bishops said "all God's children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ's church."

They said they didn't believe Jesus counseled believers "to break our relationships."

Episcopal bishops said they still have a "passionate desire" to stay in the communion. But the Anglican spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, issued a brief statement Wednesday calling their decision "discouraging."

[Last modified March 22, 2007, 01:59:09]