Episcopal Priests Protest Bishop's Support for Gay Clergy

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Six Episcopal priests in Connecticut are refusing to pay their church dues, in defiance of their bishop. The priests say that they are rejecting their bishop's authority because he supported the consecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire two years ago. As NPR's Anthony Brooks reports, this insurrection is part of a growing rebellion by conservative Episcopalians across the US.

ANTHONY BROOKS reporting:

Spring blossoms shroud the front of Christ's Church, a handsome, gray, stone building with a bell tower that rises above a quiet village green in Watertown in western Connecticut. The rector here is the Reverend Allyn Benedict, who says the issue facing him and five other priests is as clear as this warm spring day.

Reverend ALLYN BENEDICT (Rector, Christ's Church): We can't endorse practices which we believe to be contrary to Scripture because we believe it is God's Word, not something human beings just made up.

BROOKS: Benedict and the five priests are waging a sort of theological war of attrition with the bishop of Connecticut's Episcopal Diocese, Andrew Smith. This is part of a rift that has divided the US Episcopal Church since 2003, when V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire became the church's first openly gay bishop. Benedict says Bishop Smith was wrong to support Robinson because the Bible says homosexuality is wrong.

Rev. BENEDICT: It's not open for discussion to us. Not because we're close-minded, but because we're Christians and that is our sacred text.

(Soundbite of church service)

Choir: (Singing) Hallelujah ...(unintelligible)...

BROOKS: Benedict has the support of much of his congregation, including Watertown resident Ginny Vale(ph), who says her priest was right to take a stand against the ordination of a gay bishop.

Ms. GINNY VALE (Churchgoer): That's really the straw the broke that camel's back. But I think, really, the whole issue comes down to morality in our country today. Many people in this world, and especially in America, have decided to be amoral. And our country, you know, was really founded on godly principles. I think that's, really, the larger issue here.

(Soundbite of church service)

Choir: (Singing) ...(Unintelligible).

BROOKS: As Benedict and the five other priests continue to lead their congregations each Sunday, they've moved beyond their pulpits to make their point. They've stopped paying their diocesan dues, rejected Bishop Smith's authority and requested supervision by another bishop sympathetic to their views. Bishop Smith offered an alternative bishop of his own choosing, but the six rejected that. The bishop now says the six priests are out of communion with their church, and he's warned them that unless they end their disobedience, they'll be suspended or even removed from their ministries for good.

Bishop ANDREW SMITH (Connecticut's Episcopal Diocese): I'm deeply sorry that because of the demands and the behavior of the clergy that we've reached this point.

BROOKS: That's Bishop Andrew Smith, who says this is nothing less than a fight for control of the church. Across the country, in fact, more than a dozen Episcopal congregations, dismayed by the church's direction, have broken with the US Episcopal Church in the last year. Bishop Smith says the ecumenical rebellion in Connecticut may be painful, but it's not large.

Bishop SMITH: There are six rectors out of 450 clergy in this diocese and six parishes out of 177, so the movement is small. But of course, I'm concerned about it because no part of the body can say to any other part, `We have no need of you.'

BROOKS: Bishop Smith has many supporters in the diocese, including the Reverend Donald Haymer of Trinity Episcopal Church, who says the six priests' view of Scripture is too rigid.

Reverend DONALD HAYMER (Trinity Episcopal Church): It saddens me that people will define their relationship to God, as expressed through their church, by what someone else does in their bedroom. I don't think that's what Scripture calls us to, and I certainly don't think that's what the New Testament calls us to.

BROOKS: And Haymer faults the priests for violating their vows to respect church discipline by obeying their bishop.

Rev. HAYMER: Rules need to be respected. You know, if this were General Motors or this were any company in the world, these guys would have been fired for insubordination a year ago.

Rev. BENEDICT: Bishop Smith has the problem.

BROOKS: The Reverend Allyn Benedict says obedience to his bishop conflicts with obedience to his faith. He points out that the US Episcopal Church is part of the international Anglican Communion, where there is growing opposition to the American church's liberal positions on sexuality supported by the likes of Bishop Smith.

Rev. BENEDICT: If they continue in this direction, they're going to be excommunicated from the Anglican Communion. We are trying to stay in communion with the apostolic faith and with the Anglican Communion. What are we to do?

BROOKS: It sounds like what you want is out of this diocese.

Rev. BENEDICT: I'll tell you one thing. They don't teach you what to do about this in seminary.

BROOKS: Bishop Andrew Smith says he may have no choice but to remove the six priests from their ministries, but for now he's hoping that time can heal this rupture. Given how adamant both sides are in this standoff, that seems unlikely. But as one Connecticut priest put it, `People of faith never rule out miracles.' Anthony Brooks, NPR News.

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