Ordination of Gays Is Not Heresy, Episcopal Panel Says

In a dramatic and historic decision, an Episcopal Church court ruled Wednesday that there is no church doctrine barring the ordination of homosexuals and lesbians who are in a committed relationship.

In handing down the ruling, the panel of eight bishops voted 7 to 1 to dismiss heresy charges against retired Bishop Walter C. Righter of Iowa. The charges were brought against Righter last year for ordaining the Rev. Barry L. Stopfel in Newark, N.J., in 1990, knowing that Stopfel was in a committed homosexual relationship.

The court also dismissed a second count against Righter, 72, who was charged with violating his own ordination vows by ordaining Stopfel.

If found guilty, Righter could have faced penalties ranging from admonition to being stripped of his priesthood.

But even as the court dismissed the charges, it made clear that it was not commenting on either the morality of same-gender relationships, or whether bishops should ordain candidates in such relationships.

The narrowness of the ruling sets the stage for what is expected to be a major confrontation next year at the church’s triennial General Convention between liberals, who hope to consolidate and build on their victory here, and conservatives, who probably will call for a formal doctrine outlawing the ordination of monogamous, non-celibate gays and lesbians.

The General Convention is the highest policymaking body of the 2.5-million-member church.

“This is a powerful encouragement to those forces who have argued all along for a more inclusive ministry,” said Jim Solheim, a church spokesman.

Conservatives think that the court decision will do just that, at least until the church enacts new laws. “This will give the green light to bishops who want to ordain non-celibate gays,” complained Doug LeBlanc of Episcopalians United, a group that he described as conservative and evangelical in its leanings.

Against a backdrop of a stained-glass window depicting the Last Supper in the vaulted sanctuary of the Cathedral Church of St. John, the court handed down its ruling that marks the first time that any Episcopal Church body has spoken definitively on the doctrinal aspect of the issue.

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Sitting in the pews, Righter smiled as the court dismissed the charges. He said his reaction was one of “relief and gratitude.” Stopfel, 48, also sitting in the pews, reached over and patted his life partner, Will Leckie, on the shoulder.

“I’m feeling thrilled. There couldn’t have been a better decision,” said Stopfel, rector at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Maplewood, N.J. He and others said they expect bishops who have been sympathetic to ordaining monogamous, non-celibate gays and lesbians--but hesitant to do so publicly--to be emboldened by the court’s decision.

“If we’re not going to protect ourselves, the bishops who ordain us need not to hide themselves,” Stopfel said.

Bishops on the court made it clear that they did not see their ruling as the last word, though it clears the air on what doctrine does and does not say at the moment.

“We remind the church,” the majority wrote, “that this issue will not be resolved and the church unified in its faith and practice by presentments [formal charges] and trials, nor by unilateral acts of bishops and their dioceses, or through the adoption of proclamations by groups of bishops or others expressing positions on the issue.”

Still, the court’s decision was described by church authorities as a historic milestone at a time when churches of almost every denomination are struggling with issues of human sexuality.

The Episcopal Church has debated for years the issues of gays and lesbians in the priesthood, with sometimes competing resolutions passed at general conventions.

The court’s decision dramatically strengthens those in the church who want to see it become more inclusive by openly welcoming monogamous, non-celibate gays and lesbians into its clergy.

One court member, Bishop Roger J. White of Milwaukee, said in a concurring opinion that while there is no specific canonical prohibition against ordaining monogamous, non-celibate gays and lesbians, neither is there a canon that specifically authorizes it.

Until it is authorized, White urged bishops not to undertake such ordinations. “Such action by a bishop threatens the unity of the church,” White wrote.

Righter, speaking to reporters, said the church must remain inclusive and listen to all, including gays and lesbians.

“I think we’re making too much out of bedrooms,” Righter told reporters. “It’s not the gay lifestyle so much as it is what kind of relationships are people going to have. Are they going to be monogamous and faithful? Same-sex monogamous relationships I personally support. I think we’ve got lots of people in same-sex monogamous relationships and are [priests] and have been [priests] long before I got to be a bishop,” said Righter, who is married.

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The lone dissenting vote on the court was cast by Bishop Andrew Fairfield of North Dakota, who wrote a minority opinion declaring that there is a doctrinal basis for denying ordination.

Reaction from other church leaders outside the Episcopal Church was mixed.

“It’s a disappointment,” said Richard Mouw, the president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, the world’s largest nondenominational seminary. “Often, church leadership is out of touch with the ordinary folks in the pew. This decision points to a growing polarization in the Episcopal Church.”

H. George Anderson, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said, “We are following the Episcopalian developments with interest, but we don’t see this decision as setting a precedent for us. We look to our sister churches, but we take our own counsel.”

Casper Ewig, a member of Stopfel’s parish, said he was not surprised by the court decision. But he said that unauthorized ordinations have distressed him. “For guys like me who are still grappling with this issue, they’re a slap in the face. The feeling I get is, ‘Here it is . . . now live with it.’ I don’t like that attitude.”

Gabri Ferrer, who recently became an Episcopalian, said, “I’m attracted to the church because it grapples with hard questions. In other churches, if you don’t like it, there’s the door.” Ferrer is a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills.

To him, a church should be open to anyone seeking God. “I wonder about what God thinks of all this?”

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Costing the national church about $100,000, the heresy trial was only the Episcopal Church’s second this century. In the 1920s, a retired Arkansas bishop was found guilty of heresy for declaring that communism was superior to Christianity.

Two of the 10 conservative bishops who brought the charges said Wednesday that they were not surprised by the court’s decision.

“I’m disappointed, but not surprised,” said Bishop John Howe of Orlando.

Bishop John Stanton of Dallas told reporters, “The way [the court] defined doctrine and discipline . . . no bishop can be held accountable.”

The national board of Integrity, a gay and lesbian group within the church, declared that “the church is now in a position to fully embrace the ministry of its lesbian and gay clergy.”

A national meeting of liberals is planned next April at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena to map strategy for the general convention, to be held in Philadelphia.

The Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints, said Wednesday that liberals have not decided whether to seek a canon or church law specifically authorizing the ordination of monogamous, non-celibate gays and lesbians. But he said the possibility will be discussed. He also said the group will ask the church to develop rituals similar but not identical to marriage ceremonies to bless same-gender unions. The blessings would not be called “marriages.”

The court disclosed Wednesday that its ninth member, the Rt. Rev. Frederick H. Borsch of Los Angeles, withdrew from participation April 17 after the court received a motion complaining that Borsch had authorized the ordination of a monogamous, non-celibate gay man in Pasadena last January in the middle of the heresy trial. There was no immediate comment from Borsch.

Stammer reported from Wilmington and Rourke reported from Los Angeles.