Church to Meet in Phoenix Despite King Day Defeat

The Episcopal Church will hold its 1991 General Convention in Phoenix despite the defeat on Election Day of a referendum designating Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday.

Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning, who traveled to Phoenix last spring to lobby for the holiday, expressed disappointment at the measure’s narrow defeat. Some Episcopal church leaders urged a move after the Nov. 6 vote.

But Browning said this week that a meeting in Phoenix could serve as an occasion for Episcopalians to demonstrate their faith. “The fight has been a bruising one and they need our support,” said Browning, referring to “people of good faith in Arizona who are working and fighting to overcome prejudice.”

The triennial convention of the Episcopal Church, which draws about 10,000 delegates and visitors, will be held July 11-20.

A smaller denomination, the homosexual-oriented Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, is having attorneys look into whether it can get out of a hotel contract in Phoenix for its convention July 14-21. Nearly 3,000 delegates and visitors are expected to attend its biennial meeting.

“I imagine we will have to honor our contract,” said Troy Perry, founder-moderator of the Hollywood-based denomination. “But I know we will cancel the option we had with the hotel to meet in Phoenix two years later.”

Perry said the Metropolitan Community Churches selected Phoenix as a national convention site without being aware that the Episcopal Church, which faces a convention debate on homosexuality issues, will be in the city at the same time.

“That was probably the move of the Holy Spirit,” Perry said.