Knightly Views of First Gay Bishop

He’s no stranger to debate. He is, after all, a man of God. As such, he deals both in truths and controversies. But the latest one is about sexuality and religion. And there’s no controversy quite like that.

So, regarding whether the national Episcopal Church should have an openly gay bishop, Bradford Karelius has some work to do. The rector of the 600-member Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Santa Ana knows that not all his congregants applaud the idea.

Episcopalians aren’t unique among people of faith: It’s one thing for some of them to know they have gays or lesbians in their midst. It’s quite another to embrace them or put them in positions of leadership.

Here in his little corner of the Episcopal world, in a church in downtown Santa Ana that dates to 1883, Karelius won’t have as tough a sell as some other priests. He estimates that 20% of his congregants oppose the idea of a gay bishop but says he doesn’t expect major reverberations if the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire is approved. “I think the consensus is that our congregants welcome the gay and lesbian Christian into the full life of the church,” Karelius says. “I do have a good percentage of the church that tolerates [homosexuality] but doesn’t want to go much further. But it’s not a polarized situation.”

Gay or lesbian couples feel comfortable enough in the church, he says, to publicly give thanks on appropriate occasions for their years together.

That kind of openness won’t play well in every Episcopal church in America, and some delegates at the church’s General Convention this week in Minneapolis have made clear they strongly oppose the selection of a gay bishop. Karelius surmises that even some local priests might shy away from public support in front of congregations with decidedly mixed feelings.

“I think some clergy don’t want to say where they are on the issue,” says Karelius, who is 58 and has been married for 33 years. “They want to be in the middle. Some clergy are feeling that they might have people in the parish who are going to leave if they come out too much, if they said what they really felt.”

That seems like a safe strategy, but Karelius says it’s not for him. “I don’t think I’ve been outspoken ... but when we talk about who we are, we say who we are. So, there’s no double talk, because we want people to know who we are and that we welcome [gay congregants] and have a gay and lesbian spiritual group in the parish. So, that’s a self-declaration.”

Will the controversy over gay bishops eventually subside?

“Women have been priests [in Episcopal churches] for 20 years,” he says, “and the worldwide Anglican Church [of which the Episcopal Church is part] is still having trouble with that.” Episcopalians probably will make “more peace” with the issue than the Anglican Church at large, which he predicts will become increasingly conservative.

Karelius’ “epiphany” on homosexuality came after working with and growing close to gays and lesbians. Simply put, he quit seeing them as sinners solely because of their sexual orientation. But the gay-bishop issue is so controversial, he says, that it may result in the worldwide Anglican Communion sanctioning or isolating Episcopalians, who number about 2.3 million in America.

And the truth about homosexuality and the Bible? Well, religious folks are still hashing that out. “The Bible is the inspired word of God,” Karelius says, “but we have to look at it through the lens of our own culture. We say the Bible has all things necessary for salvation, but the Bible also says women shouldn’t speak in church. What was happening in the 1st century is not how the church should be now.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He can be reached at (714) 966-7821, at dana.parsons@latimes.com or at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.