Episcopal Church split possible

• Hawai'i bishop explains vote in letter

By Alan Cooperman
The Washington Post

MINNEAPOLIS — Reeling from the Episcopal Church's approval of a gay bishop and support for same-sex blessings, leaders of a conservative church faction said yesterday they will ask the archbishop of Canterbury to help them create their own Anglican province in North America.

The conservatives said they will make the request in mid-October at a meeting of the primates, or presiding bishops, of all 38 churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the worldwide alliance of churches descended from the Church of England, issued a call yesterday for the "extraordinary meeting" to address the actions of the Episcopal Church at its weeklong convention here.

The Oct. 15-16 meeting in London is shaping up as a critical juncture that may determine whether diverging positions on homosexuality will split Episcopalians in the United States and drive a wedge between the 2.3-million-member U.S. church and the other 75 million members of the Anglican Communion.

"I am clear that the anxieties caused by recent developments have reached the point where we will need to sit down and discuss their consequences," Williams said in a statement issued in London. "I hope that in our deliberations we will find that there are ways forward in this situation which can preserve our respect for one another and for the bonds that unite us."

Unlike the pope, the archbishop of Canterbury has very limited authority over his bishops and cannot reverse decisions made by a national church. The Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. has been an autonomous, self-governing body since 1785.

The Rev. David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, a Washington-based group devoted to traditional teachings on sexuality, said many conservatives believe there is "no alternative left" but to set up their own province.

The Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. is formally a province of the Anglican Communion. Creating a second, overlapping province would mean there would be two Episcopal churches with two primates: one heading the current structure of 110 dioceses and the other heading traditionalist congregations that break away.

But Anderson did not call for a "schism." He spoke instead of "constructive disengagement" from the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A., comparing it to the amicable breakup of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson's marriage.

During the turbulent convention here, a majority of more than 1,000 bishops, priests and lay people from across the country voted to recognize blessings of same-sex unions and to confirm Robinson's June 7 election as a bishop in New Hampshire. Robinson, 56, has lived with his partner, Mark Andrew, since 1989, two years after a divorce in which Robinson and his wife promised to cherish each other and to raise their two daughters together.

"His divorce is the paradigm we want to follow," said Anderson, who vigorously opposed Robinson's confirmation. "We want to talk with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the aisle about what constructive disengagement might look like and how we could do that while respecting and honoring each other."

The Rev. Ian Douglas, a professor of global Christianity at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., said the establishment of a second province would be "a unique and new departure for Anglicanism." But he said it would not be wholly unprecedented, because there are some overlapping Anglican jurisdictions in Europe and the Philippines.

Many church leaders here expressed skepticism that such a split would occur.

"The archbishop of Canterbury is not going to interfere by setting up an alternate Anglican province in America," Bishop John Chane of Washington said. "It's appropriate that (Robinson's opponents) express their disagreement, but I don't think anything will come of it."

The Rev. Samuel Candler, dean of St. Phillip's Cathedral in Atlanta, said he believed that the archbishop called the extraordinary meeting to help hold the church together, not break it apart.

The Rev. Frank Griswold, the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, said he had proposed such a meeting in a phone call this week alerting the archbishop that Robinson was on the verge of confirmation.

"I find it difficult to imagine two parallel realities within one geographic area," Griswold said, adding that he does not foresee a single diocese breaking away. "I can see some parishes, maybe, doing that."

That is what happened during the last major crisis in the Episcopal Church, after it approved the ordination of women in 1976. Several thousand Episcopalians joined the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and some splinter Episcopalian churches, but warnings of a major schism did not materialize.

Conservative leaders said they could not predict how many people or parishes might leave this time. Bishops in South Carolina, Florida and a few other states have indicated they may call special conventions in their dioceses to review their options in the coming weeks.

The traditionalist wing of the church also is planning a national meeting Oct. 7-9 at Christ Church in Plano, Texas. Its pastor, the Rev. David Roseberry, resigned from the convention after Robinson's confirmation.

Before the pivotal voting on Robinson, his supporters wore buttons saying, "Ask me about Gene." Yesterday, conservatives wore signs on their lapels saying, "Ask me about Plano."

Hawai'i bishop explains vote in letter

The Rt. Rev Richard S.O. Chang, bishop of the Episcopal Church in Hawai'i, sent a letter to clergy and lay leaders in the Diocese of Hawai'i earlier this week explaining why he voted to affirm the ordination of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Chang, who serves as secretary of the House of Bishops, was in Minneapolis for the U.S. general convention, which meets every three years.

In his letter, Chang wrote that while some in the diocese may disagree with his vote: "I do not believe that an individual's race, color, ethnic origin, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities or age should deny their access to ordination in this church."

Chang's statement added he was "well aware that my decision and vote will cause differing reactions within the Diocese of Hawai'i. It is my prayer that I will continue in dialogue with all members of the Diocese of Hawai'i regardless of their feelings on this action. I am firmly committed to offer and exercise episcopal ministry for all the members of our diocese, even when we disagree."

Reached by phone later, Chang noted that the reaction in Hawai'i to Robinson's confirmation has elicited "a mixed response, as I anticipated."

"Some say they're pleased, some say very disappointed," he said.

Chang admitted the news represents "a big shift" for the church.

"The point was raised, we need to re-examine our theology of marriage and sexuality," he said. "Much of these conversations have not begun, some are just beginning."

An Associated Press report said Chang is scheduled to return to Honolulu this weekend. It also noted that the Episcopal Church has reached out to Hawai'i's gay community, sponsoring healing services at St. Andrew's Cathedral for victims of AIDS and their family and friends.