Local clergy steadfast
in support
for gay Episcopal bishop
By RICK MALWITZ, Home News Tribune from the Web, October 19, 2004
Episcopal clergymen in Central New Jersey yesterday
welcomed further discussions about their faith but showed no sign of giving in to an Anglican Church commission that urged the U.S. Episcopal Church not to elect any more gay bishops.
"I am so thankful we are a church where this can be struggled over," said J. Rodney Croes, rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Perth Amboy.
"The name Israel means 'stuggles with God.' I believe there is a place to struggle in the church," said Croes.
The Anglican Church yesterday issued a report by the 17-member Lambeth Commission on Communion which urged the U.S. Episcopal Church to halt the practice of consecrating gay clergy, called for apologies for the consecration of V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire last November, and urged reconciliation among the world's Anglican churches.
The report also urged conservative congregations not to abandon the church.
The move to abandon is particularly strong in Africa, where the church, with 77 million global members, has had its highest growth rate.
The U.S. Episcopal Church, with 2.3 million members, is a branch of the Anglican Church.
Last weekend, 27 New England conservative clergy announced plans to align with a foreign bishop and begin meeting
in private homes.
"The subject is a lightning rod. There is a difference of opinion. That is a characteristic we love about the church, and what frustrated us about the church," said Croes.
The Rev. Judith Lee of Christ Church Episcopal in New Brunswick, who applauded the consecration of Robinson, calling him "stellar in every area," said she welcomes the discussion.
"We are asking ourselves who we are as a church and as a community of churches," Lee said.
"Those are questions we have to ask every generation."
The issue of openly gay clergy has become a matter of contention in many organized religious bodies.
It mirrors the political controversy over such matters as civil unions and gay marriage.
The Anglican report yesterday urged the Canadian and American churches to refrain from blessing same-sex unions, arguing that North American liberals had breached "the proper restraints of the bonds of affection" among Anglicans.
"Should the call to halt and find ways of continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart," said the unanimous report.
But finding a middle ground is elusive.
"You cannot impose reconciliation," said Robin Eames, leader of the church in Ireland, and head of the commission.
When Robinson was consecrated, the Rev. Bill Guerard of St. George's Episcopal Church in Hemetta called it a "disaster," terming homosexuality "a contradiction to the teachings of the Bible."
"We really ask people to pray for the Episcopal church. We're going through a very difficult time," said Guerard.
The Rev. George Councell, bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey, which represents 164 parishes in the southern half of the state issued a statement, calling for the debate to be joined in a civil manner.
"We can participate in our local congregations and convocations as we gather to reflect on the findings and recommendations, with patience, graciousness, and respect.
Let us see this report as a gift to strengthen our unity, and not an instrument to threaten or exclude one another," Councell wrote.
In his statement, Councell outlined the process which began with yesterday's report.
It will be discussed by various church bodies over the next several years, and presented to the Lambeth Conference of bishops, which does not meet until 2008.
Frank Griswold, the presiding bishop and primate of the U.S. Episcopal Church, has already staked his position, urging Anglicans to embrace "differences," or "do disservice to our mission."
Griswold objected yesterday to the call for a moratorium on the consecration of gay clergy.
"Unless we go beyond containment and move to some deeper place of acknowledging and making room for the differences that will doubtless continue to be present in our communion, we will do disservice to our mission," Griswold said.
Griswold said his church was seeking to live the gospel "in a society where homosexuality is openly discussed and increasingly acknowledged."
"Other provinces are also blessed by the lives and ministry of homosexual persons.
I regret that there are places within our communion where it is unsafe for them to speak out of the truth of who they are," Griswold said.
Rick Malwitz: (732) 565-7291; rmalwitz@thnt.com
Contributing: The Associated Press
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