Posted on 04/30/2005 8:54:26 AM PDT by sionnsar
Clifton resident Don Baker, who has lived in a committed relationship with another gay man for six years, thinks conservative Christians should get their minds out of the gutter.
"It doesn't matter that we're supposed to be brothers and sisters in Christ," he said. "They only imagine, to their horror, what we do in our bedrooms."
Baker and his partner, Roy Hardison, have found a spiritual home in the Episcopal Church - specifically, the Church of Our Savior in Mount Auburn, where they have been members for five years.
They're dismayed at the ongoing conflict between the Episcopal Church in this country and other members of the worldwide Anglican Communion over the ordination of a gay bishop.
Last month, the conflict came home, as America's Episcopal bishops voted to consecrate no bishops or allow blessings of any gay unions until at the earliest June 2006, when representatives from the entire national denomination gather in Columbus.
That decision stopped at least six scheduled elections of new bishops this year, including one for the Diocese of Southern Ohio, which includes Cincinnati.
After a nationwide search, the diocese's nominating committee had already come up with three candidates and set elections for June 11, which won't happen now.
In terms of election preparations, "we were the furthest along of any diocese in the country," diocese spokeswoman Richelle Thompson said.
Bishop Herbert Thompson Jr., no relation to Richelle Thompson, plans to remain as bishop until December, when he turns 72, and church law forces his retirement.
"We've not made a decision who will serve as diocesan bishop in 2006," Richelle Thompson said. "A moratorium like this has never happened before."The moratorium stemmed from a conflict that began with the 2003 consecration of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire.
More conservative members of the Anglican Communion, especially dioceses and churches in Africa, strongly objected.
But you don't have to go overseas to find people who think Christianity and homosexuality don't mix.
"If someone could show me a good interpretation of scripture that would allow blessing of same-sex unions, I'd love to see it," said the Rev. David Bailey, rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Springfield Township.
Conservatives like Bailey think that kind of thing incompatible with any reasonable interpretation of the Bible.
One of the most commonly cited texts - one of the few times the Bible addresses same-sex relations - is in Romans, where the Apostle Paul describes same-sex sexual relations as a consequence of people turning their backs on God.
But although Bailey sees himself as a conservative, he's open to debate on the issue. His congregation includes people adamantly opposed to homosexuality as well as an openly gay couple.
Robinson's ordination prompted three families to leave Grace Episcopal in Florence, Ky., but the other members decided to stick it out despite their reservations, the Rev. Paul Smith said.
"You can get comments either way," he said. "Some think (Robinson's ordination) is the worst thing they ever did, some say it's about time. Most folks are in the middle."
Smith himself has mixed feelings about it.
"I think the church probably went a bit too far, too fast, especially in the light of the fact that there was a fairly clear plea not to proceed," he said.
There is no central figure, such as the pope in the Roman Catholic Church, who sets policy for the entire Anglican Communion.
But the archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as first among equals among the leaders - whom the church calls "primates" - of the 38 provinces in the communion.
The Episcopal Church in America, a member of the Anglican Communion, is organized into dioceses like the Catholic Church.
A bishop, elected by representatives from the Episcopal churches in the diocese, has the final say over placement of priests, but the bishop customarily approves the person a local parish has selected.
The Episcopal Church generally leans toward the left on social issues. It was one of the first mainstream churches to ordain woman as priests, for example.
But that doesn't mean individual churches don't differ over social issues.
"I don't know of any churches in the diocese that would exclude me from membership because I'm gay, but some would be less accepting than others," said Hardison, Baker's partner.
Some of the most Christian people the Rev. Ken Hitch knows are gay or lesbians, and ordaining them for service is long overdue.
Hitch, the rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pleasant Ridge, said the moratoriums are a mistake.
"While many see that as being pastorally sensitive, I see it as a step backwards in the wrong direction," he said.
Paula Jackson, the pastor of the Church of Our Savior, agreed.
"There are exemplary gay couples who show faithfulness, love and generosity for decades," she said. "They are everything we hope any married couple would be.
"Commitment is very hard to come by in our culture," she said. "We should applaud and support them."
Part of the problem is that sex fascinates Americans, said the Rev. Matthew Young, pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Newport.
"That's the kind of thing that gets people curious, especially who can have it, and who can't," he said.
Young, whose job is to revive a parish in decline, said he has greater issues to worry about in Newport, but he leans toward inclusion of gays.
"It's strange that conservatives by and large do not want to consult the rest of the world on things like foreign policy, but people in the church think we have to consult the bishop of Nigeria on some local issue," he said.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Now marriage is all of a sudden this marvelous thing they can't get enough of.
I've mentioned this to numerous lefties and they have no idea what I'm talking about, but it was all the rage back then.
Is this supposed to make sense?
Absolutely. This is an oblique reference to Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria, who is probably the most outspoken of the "Global South" (Africa, South America and Southeast Asia), which constitutes something like 90% of world-wide Anglicanism -- and which is highly critical of the misadventures of ECUSA and its friends.
I understood the reference to Nigeria. But then, I know something of what has been happening in the Anglican churches (thanks largely to the articles you have been posting).
What is puzzling is Rev. Young's attempt to link unilateralism in foreign policy and homosexuality in the church. It is not clear what the attitudes of "conservatives" toward foreign policy have to do with the attitudes of "people in the church."
Of course, to a Leftist, everything is political and conservative is a general-purpose dirty word. Do you happen to know which way Rev. Young leans politically?
I do not. But given what is explicitly stated in this article and the article's apparent slant (just look at the leadoff sentence), I would be quite surprised if the Rev. Young were not much more a leftist than he appears here.
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