Antigay Bishop Removed

A number of Episcopal priests in America have objected to the existence of gay priests within the denomination, but especially to the consecration of Gene Robinson, a gay man, to bishop. One Episcopal priest has even left the church. An Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire has not been removed from his post as interim pastor of the Church of the Redeemer in Rochester - in part because of his opposition to Robinson, it seems.

The Advocate explains:

[Church treasurer Kathy] Lewis said [Reverend Don] Wilson had clashed repeatedly with [Bishop Douglas] Theuner over Robinson's elevation. ... Lewis said the upheaval threatens the existence of her small church. "If we don't get a conservative priest, you will see people leave," she said. "Ten people is not enough to keep this church going."

Parishioners at two Episcopal churches in the state, Redeemer and St. Mark's in Ashland, are working through a national dissident group to be supervised by the diocese of Albany. Both bishops in that diocese are affiliated with the group, the American Anglican Council.

The Episcopal Church in America is being split by the efforts of the American Anglican Council, a group funded by right-wing extremists - some of whom have been associated in the past with Christian Reconstructionism. This group is trying to get churches in various areas to leave their local diocese and become affiliated with different diocese located in other states or even regions of the country. They are, in effect, trying to get the diocese to be separated by ideology rather than geography; if they succeed, an American schism seems likely. A Reconstructionist Anglicanism in American is entirely possible.

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• Religious Right
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