Episcopal Church torn by gay issue as more parishes leave

Posted by Bible Probe on March 04, 2006 at 16:06:03:

Episcopal Church torn by gay issue as more parishes leave
By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY
Thu Mar 2, 6:43 PM

More than a dozen congregations have defected from the U.S. Episcopal Church since the first of the year in a growing rebellion triggered by the ordination of an openly gay bishop in 2003.

Overall, more than three dozen congregations from the largely white, affluent Protestant denomination have left the national church and aligned with African and South American branches of the worldwide Anglican Communion. (Related story: American congregations join foreign branches)

The departures have been sparked by opposition to the elevation in 2003 of Bishop Gene Robinson, who has a male partner, to lead the diocese of New Hampshire. Now, two openly gay priests are among five candidates to be bishop of California in a diocesan election May 6. The U.S. church approved Robinson's ordination and will also have to approve the choice of bishop of California when it meets at its national convention in June.

"There are some passages in Scripture that specifically do say that homosexual behavior is offensive to God," says Sue Chatfield, a member of a dissident parish in Orange Park, Fla.

The overseas branches of the Anglican church that the breakaway congregations are joining have taken strong stands against homosexuality, saying it is forbidden by the Bible. Robinson's ordination caused 22 of the 38 branches of the worldwide church to break off relations with the U.S. branch. The controversy has divided the worldwide church between North American and European churches, and more socially conservative churches of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Congregations from Newport Beach, Calif., to Rochester, N.Y., have left. In February, churches in Oceanside and La Crescenta, Calif., and Ashburn, Va., joined overseas dioceses. The largest defections — 10 in Florida — came in January.

The national Episcopal Church says the number of churches leaving is a small part of the more than 7,200 Episcopal parishes with 2.4 million members in the USA. The worldwide church has 77 million members. "Parishes don't leave," says the Rev. Jan Nunley, an Episcopal Church USA spokeswoman. "People leave." Agreeing with the church's acceptance of gay relationships is not essential to its members' salvation, she says.

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