Gay bishops may further divide Episcopal Church

Matthai Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Roughly six years after the consecration of a gay bishop triggered divisions in the Episcopal Church, clergy and lay leaders have recently voted to accept other gay or lesbian bishops and also to develop rites for same-sex marriages.

The landmark decisions have, in part, led to Oakland's Rev. John Kirkley - a gay, married priest who leads a Mission District parish - being named a finalist to be a bishop in Los Angeles.

"We're in a state of jubilation over this," said Thomas Jackson, an Alameda resident who is president of Oasis California, an LGBT ministry sponsored by the Bay Area-based Episcopal Diocese of California. "This madness of having a time of restraining and sacrificing gay and lesbian people has passed."

Yet the moves also threaten to further cleave a denomination at the center of global debates about sexuality and religion. Conservatives, who have a growing dominance in the global church, say they are increasingly alienated in the U.S. church and that biblical sanctity is at stake. Read more: the rest