The leader of the Episcopal Church in Utah has issued a statement supporting the first openly gay bishop ever to be elected in the United States, despite the controversy swirling over the move.
V. Gene Robinson was elected as bishop of New Hampshire last weekend, a move some believe has the potential to finally split the Episcopal Church after years of wrangling over repeated attempts to sanction same-sex marriage and ordination of gays.
The Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish issued a statement earlier this week in support of the decision by New Hampshire church members and leaders. Before he can actually lead the church in his area, Robinson's election must be ratified by a two-thirds majority of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, which will meet in Minneapolis later this summer.
The organizational structure of the American church dictates that every diocese elects its own bishop. "I have every reason to think they have done this after their own discernment, thoughtful conversation and prayerfulness," Bishop Irish said. "For that reason, if no other, I would support Gene Robinson, whom I have yet to meet."
Utah's bishop said she personally sees "no obstacle whatever in his sexual orientation or in his dedicated relationship to serving faithfully as a bishop of the church, just as I would not with reference to women, people of color, or varying backgrounds — in education, for example.
"In addition, the profile document that was done in 1995 for the election of a new bishop of Utah specifically stated that this diocese wanted a bishop who was supportive of gay and lesbian ministries. As for every new member of the House of Bishops, I will pray for a good beginning in Gene Robinson's work as a bishop of the church."
Homosexuality has been a thorny issue within the Episcopal Church, and most Protestant denominations, for at least two decades. Bishop Irish was among a large majority of top Episcopal and Anglican leaders who voted in 1998 at the worldwide Lambeth Conference against "legitimizing or blessing of same-sex unions, or the ordination of those involved in such unions."
But she also signed a resolution following the meeting reaching out to the gay community.
The U.S. Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which it is a part, have long had gay clergy, but ordination to top ministry positions has heretofore been taboo. Conservatives view the push for ordination as another in a series of steps toward apostasy from authentic doctrine, while liberals view it as affirming broader diversity within the faith.
Support for Robinson's ordination is far from unanimous.
The Right Rev. Jack Leo Iker, bishop of Fort Worth, issued a statement of his own, calling Robinson's election a "crushing blow" to "the unity and mission" of the church and the Anglican Communion and expressing regret that the movement "thumbed its nose at the rest of the church.
"It is a flagrant violation of the teaching of the church on matters of human sexuality and is in direct contradiction to the expressed mind of the bishops of the Anglican Communion that homosexual practice is incompatible with scripture.
"His example of living in a sexual relationship with another man is not faithful to the received teaching of the church but is a radical departure from it. His election has brought pain and embarrassment" to the church, and if he is consecrated, Robinson "will not be permitted to exercise any ministry in this diocese," Bishop Iker said.
South Carolina Bishops also voiced their opposition, calling the move one of the Anglican Communion's "greatest crises ever" regarding homosexuality. "This is not about a person or a diocesan election process; it is about a radical change in church doctrine."
The move comes on the heels of authorization for a public rite to bless same-sex unions by an Episcopal bishop in New Westminster last week, which has also generated controversy in the U.S. and abroad.
The issues are not new to Utah's Episcopal Church. Otis Charles, the eighth bishop of Utah, announced he was gay in 1993 after he retired as head of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. He led the Utah diocese from 1971 to 1986.
As for Robinson, many believe his post will be affirmed. Failure to ratify a bishop's election "is a rare event in the history of the church," according to Episcopal News Service.
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