Posted on 08/01/2007 2:29:14 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The openly homosexual bishop whose ordination sparked the split in the Anglican Communion has claimed that the Church of England would come close to shutting down if it was forced to manage without gay clergy.
The Bishop of New Hampshire in the US, the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, who is divorced and lives openly in partnership with a gay man, said that he found it mystifying that the mother Church of the Anglican Communion was unable to be honest about the number of gay clergy in its ranks.
He said that many of the English Church’s clergy lived openly in their rectories with gay partners, with the full knowledge of their bishops. But he criticised the stance of bishops who threaten the clergy with enmity should their relationships become public. Speaking in an interview in London, Bishop Roninson said: “I have met so many gay-partnered clergy here and it is so troubling to hear them tell me that their bishop comes to their house for dinner, knows fully about their relationship, is wonderfully supportive but has also said, ‘If this ever becomes public then I’m your worst enemy.’
“It’s a terrible way to live your life and I think it’s a terrible way to be a Church. I think integrity is so important. What does it mean for a clergy-person to be in a pulpit calling the parishioners to a life of integrity when they can’t even live a life of integrity with their own bishop and their own Church? So I would feel better about the Church of England’s stance, its reluctance to support the Episcopal Church in what it has done, if it would at least admit that this not just an American challenge. If all the gay people stayed away from church on a given Sunday the Church of England would be close to shut down, between its organists, its clergy, its wardens . . . it just seems less than humble not to admit that.”
He said that the Episcopal Church, under threat of sanctions from the Communion’s Primates if it does not modify its liberal agenda at a meeting of its bishops in September, had been ordaining gay priests “for many, many years”. He said: “Not every bishop will do that, but many do. I will and have. Many make a requirement that the person be celibate, but many do not make such a requirement. It’s interesting that the wider Anglican Communion has either not known that or has not chosen to make an issue of it before now.”
He was surprised that this did not become an issue until his election, and argued that if the principle of gay ordination is wrong, it should be wrong for priests and bishops, not just bishops.
Speaking of his recent meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is currently on study leave, Bishop Robinson said: “It was very private and I was eager and willing to accommodate him and when he asked me not to function liturgically or to preach. I was saddened by that but I want to help him as much as I can. I’m limited in what I can do and I won’t step down, but other than that I am eager to try and help him any way that I can. I certainly would not do so [celebrate or preach] without his permission.”
He said that bishops in the Church of England had backed him but declined to name them. “I have received huge support from the Church of England, both from the clergy and from the pews. Hardly a day goes by, never mind a week, that I don’t receive encouraging words of support. I think the thing that is the most mystifying to me and the most troubling about the Church of England is its refusal to be honest about just how many gay clergy it has – many of them partnered and many of them living in rectories.”
He attacked the proposals to discipline the Episcopal Church for its actions in consecrating him. “The whole notion of punishment being meted out to provinces of the Anglican Communion that are somehow noncompliant is somehow antithetical to the whole Anglican tradition; positing some sort of centralised Curia that has the ability and the authority to do such a thing is about as unAnglican as you can imagine. After all, our Church was founded in resistance to a centralised authority in Rome. And so to pose the possibility of such a centralised Curia with those kinds of authorities seems to me to be as untraditional as it could be.”
He also emphasised his roots in evangelicalism. “As a matter of fact I’m more evangelical than almost anyone you would run into in the Episcopal Church . . . When I speak to gay and lesbian groups I don’t talk to them about gay rights, I talk to them about their souls. My goal is to get them to church and bring them to Jesus.”
Anglican crisis
— In 1998 the Lambeth Conference rejects homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture" and advises against “ordaining those involved in same gender unions”
— In 2003 Vicky Imogene “Gene” Robinson, a gay divorced father of two, is elected and consecrated as ninth bishop of New Hampshire
—Later that year the Archbishop of Canterbury sets up Lambeth Commission to look into the crisis
— In 2004 it publishes the Windsor report which calls for the US church to “repent” for consecrating an openly gay bishop In June 2006 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the US rejects a motion that would have brought it in line with the Windsor report
—The Archbishop of Canterbury demands all Churches sign a covenant maintaining “biblical standards” of Anglican doctrine
Isn’t that thweet?!
What would Jesus say about this?
A "church" which would knowingly have as "clergy" those who are living in sin, living in a state of war against God, and refusing to repent, and who have been put in a position by that "church" of imparting to lost souls the Gospel of Jesus Christ and spiritually teaching those who attend the "church", is dead to begin with.
Closing the doors and nailing them shut would be a huge favor to everybody.
Jesus would let it close.
Yes, but at least they would finally be able to play a decent game of chess.
Maybe it would “collapse” back into being what a church is supposed to be, not a refuge for the fairy agenda.
“the Church of England would come close to shutting down if it was forced to manage without gay clergy.”
Better that then be led morally by sodomites.
Jesus wept. John, Chapter 11, verse 35.
It's already collapsed.
This from a guy who walked out on his family, and moved in with another man?
Goodness, these people have Chutzpah!
Thievery is close on its heels. Leadership had better get on their knees with prayer and fasting if this country doesn't want the wrath of God raining down on us.
Without condoning or excusing Archbishop Robinson's stance or actions in any way, his parents have a great deal to answer for.
“He was surprised that this did not become an issue until his election, and argued that if the principle of gay ordination is wrong, it should be wrong for priests and bishops, not just bishops.”
It is wrong. Anyone who allowed or allows it is wrong.
What a disaster for the anglicans and all denominations who have to endure the invasion of these rump rangers.
Could you please explain that joke? It went right over my head.
Perhaps he should practice what he preaches.
As a practical matter, the Church of England and the Episcopal Church USA have a choice. They can either be a regular church or they can be the gay church. If the Bishops do not start demanding discipline on sexual matters, the church is going to become more and more focused on homosexual issues until that is all that is left.
So the Bishops can either alienate the 90% of their parishioners, who just want to “drive their father’s Oldsmobile”, and forget all this homosexual liberation nonsense or they can cater to the noisy 10% that wants to take over every facet of church life. The traditional majority will only put up with this nonsense for so long. And the Bishops should remember that pledging is one of those traditions that seems to be lost on the new activist class.
Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that being a little bit gay is like being a little bit pregnant. I just cannot work that way. The Bishops will have to decide.
If this report is true, this says to me that the gays have essentially taken over the church and are actively driving out hetero clergy
Q.: Why can't Episcopalians play chess?
A.: Because they can't tell their Bishops from their Queens.
What would Jesus say about this?
_______________________________________________________
Mark 7:21-23
21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.