A Pennsylvania diocese that is the epicenter of conservative Episcopal dissent over gay bishops rejected the authority of the incoming head of the denomination Wednesday but stopped short of a full break with the Episcopal Church. The vote by the Diocese of Pittsburgh came on the same day that the liberal Diocese of Newark, N.J., tested the new Episcopal call for restraint on the appointing of gay bishops by naming a gay priest as one of four nominees to become its next leader. The Episcopal Church and its fellow Anglicans worldwide are struggling to prevent differences over the Bible and sexuality from escalating into a permanent split.
On Tuesday, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, said the divisions have become so deep that member churches who support ordaining gays may have to accept a lesser role in the fellowship to prevent a schism. The years-long debate over gay ordination reached a crisis point in 2003 when the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, elected the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Most Anglican archbishops believe gay relationships violate Scripture, and many broke ties with the U.S. church over Robinson. However, conservatives are a minority within the American church. The Diocese of Pittsburgh's vote Wednesday was an attempt to strengthen their position.
Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan is asking Williams to immediately assign another Anglican leader to oversee the Pennsylvania diocese. Duncan objects to the June 18 election of the new Episcopal presiding bishop, Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who voted to confirm Robinson in 2003 and supports ordaining gays and blessing same-sex relationships. She will be installed Nov. 4. "There are really two bodies within our church," Duncan said in a statement.
Duncan is the head of the Anglican Communion Network, which represents 10 conservative U.S. dioceses and more than 900 parishes within the Episcopal Church who are deciding whether to break from the denomination. On Wednesday, Pittsburgh leaders said they would seek permission from the top Episcopal legislative body for a new division within the church that would bring together dioceses with traditional biblical views. Only one other diocese, in Fort Worth, Texas, has asked Williams to assign a leader other than Jefferts Schori to oversee it, but did so because it rejects the ordination of women. Jefferts Schori will be the first woman to lead a national church in Anglican history.