All are welcome to attend the ordination ceremony of openly gay Dunedin man Juan Kinnear tonight at Dunedin's St. Pauls Cathedral. Cathedral Secretary Joy Carr says the ordination ceremony is an open event, where two other members of the Church will also be ordained this evening. GayNZ.com spoke to three openly gay and lesbian members of St. Pauls church, who did not want to be named, but each expressed surprise at the media attention Kinnear's ordination has received. It's widely known locally that gay and lesbian people have been an important and visible part of the church for years, they say. One regular church attendee was certain the spotlight on Kinnear was most likely due to right-wing activists within the church approaching media with the story in the wake of the Presbyterian decision to prevent gay and lesbians becoming ministers. Anglican Bishop of Dunedin George Connor will perform the ordination, despite pressure from right-wing members of his church to reconsider the ceremony. Connor came to the Diocese of Dunedin in April 2005 after serving as Bishop in the Bay of Plenty since 1989. Connor is married and has four adult children. When announcing Connor's appointment last year, vocally anti-gay Archbishop Whakahuihui Vercoe said he had every confidence that Bishop Connor was the right person to lead the church. "He has the skills and experience to enable people to reach their full potential in all they do and pray for." Ref: GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 4th November 2006 - 12:00pm