The Anglican Church has consecrated another gay bishop amidst hot protests and church outcries. This development is more likely than not to worsen divisions within the worldwide Anglican Church, which suffered a big setback when the first gay bishop Gene Robinson was consecrated in 2003. The Church of Uganda, which has the second highest concentration of Anglicans in the world, and that of Nigeria, severed its links with their US counterpart following Robinson’s consecration. And some Christian circles interpreted the act as intolerance.
Last year, other conservatives formed the rival Anglican Church of North America after appealing to the Archbishop of Canterbury for formal recognition. The Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles, according to www.allheadlines.com, consecrated the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool in a ceremony at long Beach Arena attended by 3,000 clergy, laity, civil leaders, family members and friends. According to Christian Today, the consecration of Glasspool to bishop caused criticism from the Evangelical Anglicans in Ireland who spoke of their sorrow over the consecration of a second gay bishop by the Episcopal Church in the US. In a joint statement, the Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship, the Evangelical Fellowship of Irish clergy, New Wine (Ireland) and Reform Ireland said the consecration of Glasspool was “a clear rejection of the many pleas for gracious restraint” made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, the Windsor Report and the recent meeting of Global South Primates in Singapore. They said the lifestyle of Glasspool, who lives in an openly same-sex relationship, was “contrary to the will of God revealed in scripture” and “both wrong and disappointing,” adding that “The Episcopal Church (TEC) has taken this provocative step despite knowing the division and difficulties created by Gene Robinson’s consecration in 2003.” “This shows a deliberate disregard for other members of the Anglican family and suggests that TEC does not greatly value unity within Anglicanism and indeed throughout the universal church.” Glasspool, 56, of Baltimore, says in an essay on the Los Angeles website that she had an “intense struggle” while in college with her sexuality and the call to become a priest. She and partner Becki Sander, a postgraduate student in Social Work, have been together for 22 years. And although the Bible says it is sinful to cause others to sin, Glasspool ignored that bit when she said from Baltimore, Maryland, according to www.nowpublic.com that she is fully aware that her good news may anger many people within the Church. In 2007, the Church of Uganda’s Archbishop Luke Orombi consecrated an American priest, John Guernsey in Mbarara, as bishop to oversee Christian congregations that have split from the main Episcopal Church in the US over the issue of homosexuality. If this will translate into growth of the breakaway faction, is yet to be known. But the Bible, records in Genesis 19 that the men of Sodom and Gomorrah were punished for daring to engage in homosexuality. Indeed Leviticus 20:13 clearly states that if a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. – KJV Whether The Episcopal Church, knows that the same Bible says God is the same yesterday, today and forever, remains to be understood. But now is probably the time for the Anglican Church to sit and decide what is and what is not sinful according to the Bible, which is believed to be the Church’s guiding tool.
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