Bishop Who Quit Over Conflict Looks Ahead to CLU Post

Bishop Paul Egertson calls himself a “conscientious objector,” a man who has made the church his life yet vowed never to let its policies interfere with his own sense of fairness and morality.

So now, after violating church policy by ordaining a lesbian minister, the Thousand Oaks bishop is resigning to teach full time at Cal Lutheran University.

“I promised the bishops six years ago if I had conscience problems in conflict with church policies I would resign,” said the 66-year-old Egertson, who heads the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Southern California West Synod, representing about 45,000 members in Ventura, Los Angeles, Kern, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Lynda Paige Fulford, spokeswoman for Cal Lutheran, said Egertson’s views on homosexuality were widely known before he became bishop and would not affect his teaching position.

“He was always open about his stance on gays and lesbians and it has never caused any problems,” Fulford said, noting that Egertson has taught at the university since 1986. “It’s not really a shock to us. We know where he stands.”

She said Egertson has taught Christian ethics and has been director of the university’s Center for Theological Development.

Egertson, who has lived in Thousand Oaks since 1979, took part in ordaining Anita Hill, a lesbian minister in St. Paul, Minn., in April.

The minister’s congregation had recommended she be ordained, but the church hierarchy denied her permission.

The denomination, which has 5.1 million members, believes only celibate gays and lesbians may become ministers, a position Egertson says is unjust.

Defying church policy, Egertson and three retired bishops went to Minnesota to ordain Hill.

“I went because I wanted to protest this policy, and ecclesiastical disobedience is a perfectly respectable form of protest speech,” Egertson said Wednesday. “I went with the intention of participating in this congregation’s act of conscientious objecting. I knew punishment would go along with this, but one theory of passive resistance is to break the laws and take the consequences so that the law is reconsidered.”

Three days after returning to California, Egertson was asked by Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson if he would honor his pledge to resign.

Egertson wrote an open letter to church officials explaining why he ordained Hill. He said no one should take his resignation as indicating he did something wrong or that ordaining Hill was improper. Rather, it indicates a willingness to accept the consequences of his actions, he said.

Craig Chapman, director of the Gay and Lesbian Center in Ventura, applauded Egertson’s actions, comparing them to the civil rights tactics used by blacks in the American South.

“I think what he did was very brave,” said Chapman, an ordained Anglican priest who leads the gay and lesbian All Saints Church in Ventura. “I think single acts like that can make a difference.”

Chapman said he was asked to leave an Anglican congregation in Michigan when he entered into a gay relationship.

For Egertson, the issue is highly personal. The oldest of his six sons is gay.

“He has gone through the seminary and wants to be ordained and because of the policy he can’t,” Egertson said. “He is a stunning candidate for the ministry, but he can’t become one because he won’t promise to be celibate his whole life.”

The bishop, who will step down July 31, said the Bible has some harsh words for homosexual activity, but he says it is wrong to draw broad conclusions from this.

“We don’t think those biblical passages really apply to the modern understanding of sexual orientation,” he said. “The passages depict rape, domination, abuse of boys by older men, all things we are also against.”

While Egertson said he looks forward to teaching full time again, he hopes his actions will keep the issue of gay and lesbian ordination alive.

“I think the resignation will draw more people into a conversation on this,” he said. “The biggest problems we have is the ignorance and denial of the issue.”