Divided flock

The love that dare not speak its name is tearing local church congregations apart
By Ted Cox

Last year, Raymond Hess, head pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on the northern edge of Elk Grove, thought that his church should reach out to the surrounding community.

After studying the demographics of their community, church members saw that their congregation didn’t reflect the diversity of the neighborhoods around them. Guided by a new outreach plan, called ReVision!, members formed a committee to draw new worshippers into Sunday services: Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans and young people.

Soon, though, a difficult question emerged: Should the church reach out to gays and lesbians as well? Hess, and a handful of other members, believed they should.

Hess felt that openly gay men and women should be welcomed into the congregation. “I don’t see myself on the far end of either end of the spectrum,” explained Hess. “But I’m certainly not on the way conservative end of the spectrum.”

But not everyone agreed. Hess said that some of the more conservative members of the church didn’t share his viewpoint. the rest