Leaders of the US Episcopal Church have been told once and for all that the gay man they elevated to bishop will not be allowed to attend a top, once-a-decade worldwide Anglican Church meeting this summer. "It feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams), has cut me out of the herd," said Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, after receiving the definitive word that he will be excluded from the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference in England. It was the US church's consecration of Robinson in 2003 as the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relationship in more than four centuries of Anglican Church history that jolted the 77 million-member global church, already divided over biblical interpretation, the ordination of women and the blessing of same-sex unions. Robinson said he would nonetheless attend the meeting as an outside observer. This story continues on the link below.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 12th March 2008 - 10:51am