Correspondent Kim Lawton was in New Hampshire and had the first media interview with Bishop Robinson after his consecration.
KIM LAWTON: At the Episcopal diocesan headquarters in Concord, New Hampshire, newly consecrated Bishop Gene Robinson is getting down to business. He's still receiving hate mail, and his office staff is being briefed on how to deal with bomb threats. But Robinson says he wants to put months of controversy over his sexual orientation behind him and move ahead with the work of his church. He hopes his presence as a bishop sends a positive message.
Bishop GENE ROBINSON (Diocese of New Hampshire): You know our Episcopal Church signs out front, or when you come into a town, says "The Episcopal Church welcomes you," and we're trying to make that actually be true. I think sometimes in the past, people have felt like there may be some fine print there. You know, "The Episcopal Church welcomes you, except for ..." And we're trying to take all the exceptions out and say, "This church is for you."LAWTON: But for conservative Episcopalians who believe homosexuality is a sin, Robinson's consecration is a painful indication that the U.S. Episcopal Church may no longer be for them.
Canon MARY MAGGARD HAYS (Diocese of Pittsburgh): I was called to be a priest in the Episcopal Church. I've been ordained 20 years. I love this church. And how can I not be grief-stricken, especially when I get calls from clergy and laypeople who are beleaguered? You know, how can you not weep?
LAWTON: There was high security and a flood of international media attention as Robinson was consecrated last Sunday. Outside the arena, antigay protesters were drowned out by about 200 Robinson supporters.
Inside, celebration during the traditional three-hour-long ritual to ordain a bishop. Robinson, in a plain robe, came before church leaders who ceremonially examined his qualifications for the post.
Bishop ROBINSON: And I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church.LAWTON: As in the traditional Anglican wedding service, there was also an opportunity for objections.
Presiding Bishop FRANK GRISWOLD: If any of you know any reason why it should not proceed, let it now be made known.
LAWTON: Three people brought objections: a priest who gave explicit descriptions of homosexual sex; a woman from Robinson's New Hampshire diocese; and Bishop David Bena from Albany, New York, who read a statement signed by a significant group of U.S. and Canadian bishops who are refusing to even recognize Robinson's consecration.
Bishop DAVID BENA (Diocese of Albany): This consecration poses a dramatic contradiction to the historic faith and discipline of the church. We join with the majority of the bishops in the Anglican Communion and will not recognize it.LAWTON: The objections were noted, but the service proceeded. And in the traditional laying on of hands as a sign of apostolic succession, Robinson became an Episcopal bishop. He was given the symbols of his office, a robe from his parents and a bishop's hat from his daughters and his partner of 15 years. And then, jubilant celebration.
Bishop GRISWOLD: My brothers and sisters, greet your new bishop.
LAWTON: For Episcopalians here, this was a landmark moment, a demonstration of openness and Christian love. But it was also a moment of profound global division.
Within hours of the consecration, Anglican leaders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America announced what they called a "state of impaired communion" with the U.S. church. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had pleaded with them not to fully break ties until a commission he appointed last month studies possibilities for keeping the communion together. Many overseas bishops joined U.S. conservative bishops in refusing to recognize Robinson's consecration.
Robinson said he wasn't surprised.
Bishop ROBINSON: I've not been welcome in their dioceses for many years, as an openly gay priest, never mind as an openly gay bishop. So that's not much of a change. And as for the worldwide Anglican Communion, my not being recognized in some provinces is exactly what our women bishops experience all the time.
Reverend KENDALL HARMON (Diocese of South Carolina): You're going to have less affiliation between people based on geography and more based on theological and personal affiliation. And so you're going to see a loosening of some of these typical Anglican structures.
Canon HAYS: Things are not going to just settle down. As I travel around the church and get phone calls in my diocesan office, it's clear this is a very different situation. There's a lot of anxiety because there's a sense that the Episcopal Church has left the teaching of the communion.
