Gay Bishop Gatecrashes Conference
The Anglican Church’s one-in-ten year conference drew to a close on Saturday, and despite the fact that he wasn’t invited, gay Bishop Gene Robinson has been there, watching noisily from the sidelines.
Robinson says that he’s not the only gay man in the Anglican clergy. “Many are out to their congregation and out to their bishop. But no-one is willing to say it out loud… I’m here because I would like to make it possible for those who would like to be open and honest to do so.”
Uninvited to the Lambeth Conference, a gathering of the world’s Anglican bishops, and the only openly gay man among them, Robinson has been speaking out against his exclusion from the conference, and the exclusion of all gay clergy from the church, throughout the two-week event.
Over 250 bishops boycotted the conference because of the ‘moral decline’ they believe the consecration of Robinson represents. Objectors include Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen, who started an alternative conference, Global Anglican Future Conference, along with six other Sydney Bishops and a number of Bishops from African congregations.
Despite two weeks of discussions over the issue of homosexuality, the bishops who attended the Lambeth Conference didn’t come to any agreement or conclusion on the matter.
“I understand disappointment about [the lack of a resolution] on both sides. I think there’s desire to resolve the issue but different groups want the issue resolved in different ways,” Archbishop Aspinall of Brisbane said to ABC.
“It’s about how we interpret scripture,” said Robinson on fighting for his place in the church.
With the support of his two daughters and his partner of 20 years Mark Andrews, Robinson believes that “those who claim to make a plain reading of scriptures are actually interpreting it as well.”
“We all interpret scripture… we have changed our mind about a lot of things. It was not very long ago… we were still using scripture to justify slavery, and we came to understand that it was not God’s will.”
Robinson said that he has received death threats over his decision to attend the conference.
“I received a number of death threats before coming here. That’s why I have security… I had similar death threats at the time of my consecration. I have no interest in being a martyr, I’m just trying to be a good bishop.”
All About
Your Thoughts
Hey there, you need to be logged in to get involved with SameSame, click here to login if you're already a member, or here if you need to become a new member.
