24 Episcopal Bishops Break With Diocese

In a move that could foreshadow a major split in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion of which it is a member, 24 conservative U.S. bishops have served notice that they are cutting ties with a Canadian diocese that has authorized the blessing of same-sex couples.

The strongly worded open letter, released Friday, comes as Episcopal leaders prepare for the church’s triennial national General Convention to be held at the end of this month in Minneapolis. The meeting is scheduled to consider two contentious issues involving homosexuality: whether to develop a rite for blessing same-sex unions, and whether to approve the consecration of an openly gay priest as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire.

The 2.4-million-member Episcopal Church no longer holds the same position of influence in the U.S. it did in earlier generations, when it was the faith of a disproportionately high percentage of people in the nation’s business and political elites.

But the dispute within the church reflects similar arguments roiling other large Protestant denominations. Moreover, with 73 million members worldwide, the Anglican Communion is the second-largest international body of Christian churches after the Roman Catholic Church.

The archbishop of Canterbury is considered the spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide, and Anglican churches around the world use similar liturgies and prayers spelled out in the Book of Common Prayer. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, however, the Anglicans have no centralized teaching authority and each national church governs its own affairs.

Increasingly, issues of homosexuality have divided Anglicans worldwide and Episcopalians in the United States. Liberals within the faith, who appear to be in the majority in the United States, Canada and parts of England, argue for accepting gay men and lesbians as priests and bishops and blessing same-sex unions. Traditionalists, who include many of the leaders of fast-growing Anglican churches in Africa and Asia, say those proposals cannot be squared with scriptural denunciations of homosexual conduct.

In the last few months, three events have become flashpoints in the debate: the decision in May by the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster, which includes Vancouver, to bless same-sex unions; the election last month by New Hampshire Episcopalians of the Rev. V. Gene Robertson, who is gay, as their bishop; and the appointment in England of another gay priest, the Rev. Jeffrey John, as suffragan, or assistant, bishop in the Diocese of Oxford.

After much outcry in England, John decided this month to decline his appointment. By contrast, the election of Robertson is widely expected to win the consent of the Episcopal convention. Although the national church’s consent is required when a local diocese elects a bishop, the national church as a rule has almost always endorsed a local decision, church officials say.

The open letter from the 24 conservative Episcopal bishops -- 14 of whom head U.S. dioceses -- has raised the stakes for the Minneapolis meeting. The group has aligned itself with nearly 20 Anglican archbishops, mostly from churches in Africa and Asia, who have declared themselves in a state of “impaired communion” with the Vancouver diocese because of its decision on gay unions.

Declaring impaired communion is roughly akin to a breaking of diplomatic relations among nations.

The 24 bishops, whose letter was addressed to the protesting archbishops, said they “utterly repudiate” the Canadian diocese’s decision.

“We further state that we stand ready, in concert with you, to commit to common responses to the deteriorating situation within the Episcopal Church, and elsewhere,” they added.

Among those signing were Bishops Gethin B. Hughes of San Diego and John-David Schofield of San Joaquin.

By contrast, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles, favors the blessing of same-sex unions. Bruno said he will also vote in favor of Robertson’s election.

One leading conservative priest, the Rev. Canon David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, said in an interview that there would be “global fallout” if the Episcopal Church seats a gay man as bishop or agrees to draft blessings for homosexual or lesbian couples.

“I think it’s dawning on a growing number of Episcopal Church leaders what the cost would be,” Anderson said. “The Africans, the Asians have had it. They’ve really had it with North American duplicity.... They’re not going to give our bishops a blank check anymore.”

But the Rev. Susan Russell, executive director of Claiming the Blessing, a national gay and lesbian advocacy organization based at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, said she has traveled to 14 states in the last several months and found the idea of same-sex blessings “extremely well-received.”

Similar warnings about a schism were heard in 1976 when the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women. “Those dire predictions proved to be worse than not true,” Russell said.

Conservative leaders, however, say the ordination of women is a far-less problematic issue than same-sex unions. Blessing those would break with long-established church teachings against sex outside a traditional marriage, they say.

“It’s a much clearer case than is the case with the ordination of women,” said Bishop John Stanton of Dallas.

Ordination of women “doesn’t go to the heart of apostolic teaching in the same way that sexuality does,” he said, adding that supporters of gay unions are “being naive and are taking a terrific risk.”

Because of the historical ties among Anglican churches, members of one national church often closely watch what happens in others. When the Vancouver diocese decided to go ahead with blessing same-sex unions, for example, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, though a liberal on such issues, expressed sadness.

“The diocese has gone significantly further than the teaching of the church or pastoral concern can justify,” Williams said.

In May, Anglican primates -- ranking archbishops and presiding bishops of national churches -- declared that there is “no theological consensus about same-sex unions. Therefore, we as a body cannot support the authorization of such rites.”

But the two sides have disagreed about the import of that statement. Conservatives say it forecloses same-sex unions, while liberals say it leaves the decision up to individual dioceses.