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COVER STORY:
Bishop Gene Robinson's Consecration
November 7, 2003 Episode no. 710
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BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Global fallout this week after the U.S. Episcopal Church's consecration of its first openly gay bishop. Reverend Gene Robinson was ordained a bishop last Sunday during an elaborate ceremony in his New Hampshire diocese. Conservative Anglican leaders from around the world immediately announced a state of "impaired communion" with the U.S. church, although -- for now -- they stopped short of declaring a full schism.
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.
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LAWTON: How can you minister in the midst of all the disunity?
Bishop ROBINSON: I have plenty to do in New Hampshire. I have plenty to do in those dioceses that will welcome me. And in time, just as has been true with women, I will be welcomed in other places as well. It really won't hinder my ministry at all.
LAWTON: American conservatives held their own prayer service nearby. They are now pushing for what they are calling a "realignment" of the church, a network of parishes in the U.S. and Canada that would be overseen by bishops who share their theological views. This would be a departure from the usual geographical church jurisdictions.
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.
LAWTON: It's unclear what relationship such a "realigned network" might have with the U.S. Episcopal Church.
Rev. HARMON: We're in uncharted waters here. And I think none of us has a sense of the full form of what's going to emerge. So I think it'll be probably a one- to three-year process to get a sense of what it looks like. But clearly, the momentum is going forward.
LAWTON: People on both sides of the debate acknowledge the differences may be irreconcilable.
Bishop ROBINSON: Some of the folks who are arguing against this, particularly on biblical grounds, are trying to take us to a place, in terms of our own study of Scripture, that has never been our tradition. It's the tradition of some other denominations, but it's never been the Anglican tradition to take Scripture literally. So perhaps this is showing up a kind of division that's been there all along. And maybe it is time that we took a look at that, and -- I hope it won't be true -- but it might be that we might -- ought not to try to hold together if indeed we go about this Christian endeavor so differently.
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.
LAWTON: Bishop Robinson says he was all too mindful of the divisions his consecration would provoke. But he firmly believes God wanted this to go forward.
(To Bishop Robinson): How did you discern that it truly was God's calling that you were hearing?
Bishop ROBINSON: Discerning God's voice is a very tricky business. I've often said, you know, I'm trying to make sure that the voice in my head is not my own ego doing a great imitation of God's voice. And I use a spiritual director to help me with that, to work on my prayer life. I spent a lot of time in prayer about this, but also, you can't discern God's voice by yourself. The discernment of God's voice has to be in community. It's not just my call, but the sense of call that comes to the people of the church, clergy and laity.
LAWTON: Now that the consecration is over, many Episcopalians look forward to moving beyond the extraordinary focus on homosexuality. But given the deep divisions, those conversations aren't likely to be over for some time to come.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey also weighed in on the controversy this week. He said Bishop Robinson's consecration had done "incalculable" damage to the Anglican Communion, but he urged all the factions to hold together.
ABERNETHY: Kim, does anybody think that with just a little time Episcopalians could learn to live with this?
LAWTON: Well, certainly that's what many Episcopalians are hoping and certainly many church officials are hoping, but I think this whole thing has highlighted many profound theological differences -- not just about homosexuality, but about how to interpret Scripture, about church authority, and about how all of these pieces of the church relate to each other, and I'm not sure that's easily healed.
ABERNETHY: And Bishop Robinson told you he thinks it wouldn't be such a bad idea if they did split.
LAWTON: Well, he's saying that. Many conservatives are saying that, as well, and I think the big question is whether you're talking about an all-out split or you're talking about some kind of realignment. Are they going to be able to do this amicably? Are they going to be able to do this without a lot of nasty court battles over who owns the property and who controls the churches? And, as one person told me, he thinks "We may be in for a messy future."
ABERNETHY: Kim, many thanks.
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Related Links:
Anglican Communion News Service: "Mixed feelings as first openly gay Anglican bishop is consecrated," November 3, 2003
Archbishop of Canterbury: Statement following the consecration of Canon Gene Robinson, November 2, 2003
The Telegraph (U.K.): Statement of the primates of the global south in the Anglican Communion, November 3, 2003
The Boston Globe: "Robinson elevated as first gay bishop" by Michael Paulson, November 3, 2003
The Guardian Profile: Gene Robinson, October 31, 2003
American Anglican Council
Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire
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