THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND HOMOSEXUALITY

Introduction

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Overview

The Episcopal Church in the U.S. is part of the world-wide Anglican Communion. It has successfully survived major stressors without schism. It stayed united:

The late 20th and early 21st centuries see another serious controversy emerging. It involves whether:

The worldwide Anglican Communion is seriously split on these topics. Many in the leadership of the North American provinces -- the Episcopal church, USA and the Anglican church of Canada -- generally favor equality for gays and lesbians. The provinces in South America, Africa, and Asia are unalterably opposed to granting equal rights (and rites) to homosexuals. The American Anglican Council, the Concerned Clergy and Laity of the Episcopal Church, and similar conservative groups oppose actively gay priests or bishops, and the blessing of gay and lesbian unions. Although they form the right wing of North American Anglicanism, they are aligned with the mainstream of Anglicanism worldwide. As has been common throughout recent centuries, the church seems to reflect local popular culture rather than leading it.

Celibate and active gays and lesbians are welcome in the Episcopal church as members. Since 1979, the church has permitted the ordination of celibate homosexuals. However, the Episcopal church had a traditional policy of not ordaining sexually active homosexuals. This guideline had never been enshrined in canon law. In 1990, Bishop Righter ordained a gay male who was involved in a committed relationship. A hearing was held to determine if the Bishop should be tried for heresy. The charges against him were dismissed on 1996-MAY-15. This opened the door for other, less courageous, Bishops to safely ordain homosexuals in committed relationships. A homosexual Episcopalian group estimates over 100 gay men and lesbians have been ordained as priests and deacons in the US. Canon Gene Robinson, a homosexual in a committed relationship, was elected bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. His election was affirmed by the 2003 General Convention.

What is the nature of the conflict?

There are many aspects to the heated, emotional debates over homosexuality -- both within the Episcopal church and the rest of society:

Why has this controversy hit the Anglican Communion at this time?

The controversy was inevitable. It will be seen in every worldwide, mainline denomination which determines its policies by democratic means.

On moral topics, organized religion tends to follow rather than lead social trends within a given culture. This has been seen in the conflicts over slavery; equal rights for women; decriminalization of contraceptive devices and medication; female ordination and other ethical conflicts with a religious component. This phenomenon is particularly true of sexually-related matters.

Prior to the ground-breaking studies of Evelyn Hooker in the 1950s, homosexuality was almost universally believed to be a mental illness, and an abnormal, unnatural behavior by sexual perverts. Hooker "published the first empirical research to challenge the prevailing psychiatric assumption that homosexuality was a mental illness. Her work was the cornerstone for an entire body of research that ultimately led to removal of 'homosexuality' from the [American Psychiatric Association's] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [in 1974]." ₁ However, organized religions adapted to the new findings at different speeds:

The Episcopal Church in the U.S. and the Anglican Church in Canada are mainline denominations in which the homosexual issue has been hotly debated for decades. Liberals within these denomination favor equal rights and treatment for gays and lesbians; conservatives favor retention of the present prohibitions against homosexual ordination and the blessing of same-sex relationships. Throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion the individual provinces are following the lead of their local cultures. Provinces in Western Europe, the U.S. and Canada tend towards the liberal end of the spectrum; provinces in South America, Africa and Asia tend towards the conservative end. It is naive to assume that the entire Communion could alter their beliefs in a coordinated manner. The Anglican Communion is not like the Roman Catholic Church in which a small number of senior officials can establish, change and enforce policies. It is a group of autonomous provinces, on separate paths.

The result is a seriously divided Communion. Because gay rights have progressed furthest in North America and a few countries in Western Europe, it was inevitable that the American and Canadian Provinces of the Anglican Communion would be the first to adopt the most liberal policies towards gays and lesbians, and that most of the remaining would resist change. Thus, conflict and the potential for schism within the Communion over homosexuality could have been predicted decades ago. It can be expected to be replayed in future sexually-related topics later in this century, including the acceptance of transsexuals, of pre-marital sex, and of living together relationships.

Liberal groups favoring inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender:

Please pass along to us the names and URLs of any groups that we have missed.

Conservative groups favoring exclusion of sexually active gays from a position of equality:

Please pass along to us the names and URLs of any groups that we have missed.

Related sections on homosexuality and: