Gay Episcopal Priest Suspended in Celibacy, Monogamy Dispute

A controversial gay Episcopal priest, ordained in New Jersey less than six weeks ago, was suspended Monday from priestly functions and forbidden to speak publicly because of his recent statements criticizing celibacy and monogamy.

The Rev. J. Robert Williams, 34, who lives with an acknowledged male lover, has also been forced to resign as head of a gay and lesbian ministry in Hoboken, N.J., because of his opinions, church spokesmen said Monday.

Williams said at a forum in Detroit on Jan. 13 that celibacy is not a healthy life style for Christians and that monogamy--although one way to express faithfulness in marriage--isn’t required for a faithful relationship.

“Monogamy is as unnatural as celibacy,” Williams said at the forum. “If people want to try, OK. But the fact is, people are not monogamous. It is crazy to hold up this ideal and pretend it’s what we’re doing and we’re not.”

Episcopal Bishop John S. Spong of Newark, N.J., who ordained Williams on Dec. 16 in a highly publicized ceremony that drew intense fire from conservatives within the 2.4 million-member denomination, suspended Williams this past weekend, according to Leslie C. Smith, diocesan press officer. Williams also is “no longer on the staff” at All Saints, the Hoboken parish where he was assigned, Smith said.

Spong, in a statement, said: “In my opinion, Mr. William’s remarks were insensitive, immature and totally destructive. . . . I think he has hurt his cause, and I have asked him to apologize. Furthermore, I have told him I cannot defend the kind of personal behavior indicated by his statements even though I want to defend the place of gay and lesbian people.”

The Episcopal Church officially forbids the ordination of “practicing homosexuals.” But when Spong ordained Williams he said the prohibition wasn’t binding and that the ordination was “a step into honesty and integrity.”

Williams, en route to a relative’s home in Texas on Monday, could not be reached for comment.

But in a letter to Spong, Williams acknowledged that the board of directors of Oasis, the Hoboken ministry to homosexuals, had asked him to resign as director.

“I find the restrictions . . . make it impossible for me to carry out the prophetic and radical ministry among the lesbian and gay community to which I believe God has called me,” Williams wrote.