Liberal wing soars on inclusiveness
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
November 14, 2006

NEWARK, N.J. -- Louie Crew lives with his male partner of 30 years in a suburban South Orange high-rise with a view of nearby Manhattan. But he worships in the heart of Newark's barren downtown in a "smells and bells" mass of the high church tradition.

On a recent Sunday, he stood in Grace Episcopal Church as the priests and acolytes paraded in, sprinkling holy water on the parishioners and perfuming the room with incense.

Crew attends the church because of its traditional style of liturgy, not because the rector happens to be gay. But if that mattered to him, Crew would have plenty of choices.

At least a third of the Newark clergy are gay--the legacy of former Newark Bishop John Shelby Spong. Between 1975 and 1999, Spong created a haven for gay and lesbian clergy, ordaining 35 and taking in dozens more who could not find jobs in other dioceses. the rest