'God Hates fags.' A significant portion of the Episcopal church agrees with the sentimentsif not the more offensive languageof Rev. Fred Phelps and his followers, who protested the elevation of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson to his new post as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire Sunday, Nov. 2.
A few dozen supporters and protesters of Robinson lined up outside the University of New Hampshire sports arena where the ceremony was being held. About 4,000 people gave Robinson a lengthy standing ovation as he made history by becoming the faith's first openly gay bishopa first for a major Christian denomination.
The more conservative American Anglican Council held an alternative service elsewhere in town.
While many conservatives say Episcopalians will be leaving the church as a result of Robinson's elevation, presiding U.S. Episcopalian Archbishop Frank Griswold believes most will stay within the church.
'They must know if they must leave, they will always be welcomed back,' Robinson said during his speech at the ceremony.
During the ceremony, a bishop representing 36 opposing bishops in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada formally objected to the proceedings.
England's Daily Telegraph reported that 20 Anglican primates who oppose the ordination of gays are expected to split from their North American counterparts. The primates were expected to announce that continued communion with the New Hampshire diocese and those who support the appointment, including presiding Episcopalian Archbishop Frank Griswold, is no longer possible. One proposal is to appoint a second archbishop for the U.S., the paper reported.
AP reported that the 37 top bishops of the world's 77 million Anglicans met in October to affirm the faith's opposition to gay clergy and same-sex behavior. They warned that churches in many nations would refuse to recognize Robinson as a bishop and would suspend ties with the Episcopal Church.
AP also reports that Robinson, a longtime assistant to New Hampshire Bishop Douglas Theuner, is now 'bishop coadjutor'he automatically becomes head of the diocese when Theuner retires March 7.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that Bishop John Bryson Chane, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, is planning to develop an optional liturgical rite that diocesan clergy could use to bless same-sex unions.