The appointment of the first openly gay bishop to the United States' Episcopal Church has sparked controversy and dissent among many of its members. The Episcopal Church is a branch of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, which now is threatened by a rift over the new appointment. On Tuesday, Rev. V. Gene Robinson was elevated to bishop-elect status, and the next day, Episcopal conservatives protested the election by walking off the floor of their national legislative meeting. \nLeaders of various Christian denominations, including Methodists and Catholics, have decried the appointment as unacceptable, and pronouncements of an impending schism within the church have reached a fevered pitch. The American Anglican Council, which represents conservative bishops and parishes, planned a meeting in October to decide whether to break away from the church or take some other action now that the bishop-elect has been seated.\nThese certainly are trying times for the Episcopal church, but the situation is anything but insurmountable. Few, if any, religions have escaped the side-effects of ideological differences among the faithful, and history has been witness to myriad splits, breakaways and movements aimed at "reform." Christianity has no fewer than 14 organized sects, Islam has 12, Hinduism has more than 15, Buddhism has at least 13, and each is alive and well and attracting more followers every day. In fact, these four groups represent 76 percent or 4.5 billion of the world's adherents to an organized form of religion. And we believe that, once the dust has settled, the Anglican Communion will, indeed, be changed but equally unscathed.\nIt is our sincerest hope that any split or change in affiliation within the Episcopal church will bring growth, and through this growth, we expect a broadened, more enlightened definition of the word "acceptance." \nRobinson's vote into position was postponed Monday after 11th-hour allegations were made against Robinson of sexual misconduct and of being associated with a group whose Web site is alleged to have links to pornographic sites. In his defense, Robinson's colleagues countered by encouraging his detractors not to "mistake the match for the conflagration." And Church leaders ultimately made quick work of the allegations, as they cleared Robinson during a single day of preliminary investigations.\nIn addition to cries of "foul" from his compatriots, Robinson also is facing strong opposition from Episcopal conservatives in Asia and Africa. And given the vitriolic protestations and ad hominem attacks leveled at Robinson throughout the voting process, it seems that the unofficial schism began long before his nomination and subsequent elevation in rank. \nPersonal renditions of the deity and traditional dogma notwithstanding, it is not ours to wonder, "Whom does Bishop Robinson love," but rather, it is far more important that we accept and rejoice in the fact that he does, indeed, love. And we wish him much success in his new position as role model, as he is living proof that, with patience and determination, all things are possible.
-- Hank Grimes for the Editorial Board
