The US Episcopal Church is putting an end to their ban on gays and lesbians becoming bishops. This is sure to cause plenty of bickering since there is already a rather large rift over the issue.
At the General Convention in California, bishops voted Monday to the tune of 99-45, with two abstentions, in favor of this resolution:
“God has called and may call such individuals [homosexual men and women] to any ordained ministry” in the Episcopal Church.
It was several years ago during that General Convention where members of the church called to halt to the consecration of “any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.” That was in response to the Church consecrating its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson.
There is a huge ass divide in the Anglican congregations of the US, especially since the American Anglican clergy has joined forces with conservative churches in Africa and South America. They want to break away from the Episcopal Church, in part due to the divide over gay clergy.
Reverend Susan Russell, president of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender Episcopal advocacy group Integrity USA sees this as a positive step. “It was a vote for both unity and mission. This is a church that is ready to move on. It was a clear vote for mission for this church,” she was quoted as saying on the church’s website.
The Episcopal Church is a US branch of the Anglican Communion, whose mother church is the Church of England.
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