LATimes: Putting the Episcopal rift in a historical context

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States says the current controversy over gays mirrors past conflicts that the global church has managed to overcome.
By Duke Helfand December 15, 2008

Since its founding more than two centuries ago, the Episcopal Church has often struggled to keep disparate factions unified under its diverse umbrella.Repeated controversies -- over slavery, the ordination of women and even the role of children in church life -- have threatened to tear at its religious fabric.

Now, the church faces one of its most daunting challenges yet, with hundreds of conservative congregations forming a separate North American church amid a dispute with liberal Episcopalians over homosexuality and Scripture.Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori sees the latest discord in historical terms, a view that sheds light on Episcopalians' religious and cultural DNA. the rest