Friday, September 08, 2006

Bishop hopeful is ready for election
Controversy, anxiety sure to follow vote for gay candidate
Friday, September 08, 2006
BY JEFF DIAMANT
Star-Ledger Staff

The Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe knows that if he wins election Sept. 23 as Newark's next Episcopal bishop, he'll face months of anxiety and international attention because of his sexual orientation.

But Barlowe, one of six candidates for the post, said he believes he and the liberal Newark diocese can handle any potential problems that would result from his election -- namely, a national confirmation battle and the prospect of punitive action by the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church's world body.

"I would never have allowed my name to go forward in this process had I not felt that God wanted me to be in this process," Barlowe, who has been in a 24-year relation ship with his partner, Paul Burrows, said at a news conference yesterday in Newark. "I reached that not just (from) my own personal perspective, but through consultation with folks who I find are wise and spiritually oriented and are able to assess things in ways that bring clarity to me.

"In my experience, when God asks me to do something, God never gives me something that is impossible to do," he said.
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