Dealing with a controversy

Lindsay Sandham

Controversy surrounding the ordination of an openly gay bishop in New

Hampshire in 2003 has put the Episcopal Church under the nation’s

spotlight.

St. Michael and All Angels Church in Corona del Mar is holding a

five-part series of discussions throughout Lent for members of the

congregation to discuss the Windsor Report, a report issued in

October by the Lambeth Commission, a body that is part of the

Anglican Communion.

Several churches throughout the country have seceded from the

diocese since 2003, including St. James Church in Newport Beach, All

Saints’ in Long Beach and St. David’s of North Hollywood.

These churches have placed themselves under the Diocese of Luwero

in the Anglican province of Uganda, Africa, because they do not agree

with the national church’s liberal views on homosexuality, the

divinity of Jesus and the supremacy of the Bible.

Sunday’s class was the second in the series at St. Michael, and

members of the congregation discussed their personal views on the

report, what it means to be part of a larger global church and the

situation with the churches that have left the Episcopal Church.

“That’s really how we do things,” said Darryl Stevens of Irvine.

“We’re pretty dialogic as a denomination. I think one of our

frustrations with what’s going on is that we’ve got folks that are in

the family who are refusing to talk to us [St. Michael]. We are more

willing to sit down and try and have a dialogue about it.”

Norris Battin, senior warden of St. Michael, said the problems

within the Episcopal Church have been going on a lot longer than

since 2003.

“Theologically, this has been going on for at least a century and

a half in terms of really two divergent points of view about the

Bible,” he said. “Whether it’s a fundamentalist view or whether it’s

a more interpretive view.”

Stevens said he joined the Episcopal Church in college because he

was drawn to the idea of worship as an expression rather than as a

teaching. He said he is not upset about the situation the church

faces today because he thinks it is something that has to happen.

Stevens said the church as a community needs to be able to address

homosexuality, much like it had to face gender issues some 35 years

ago.

“We’ve been fighting the gender war for 35 years,” he said. “But

if we had not ordained women, if we had not had churches leave in

1979, 1980 and 1981 because of the ordination of women, we never

would have addressed this thing. We would not have a woman

celebrating and preaching today.”

Battin said there are still churches in the United States that do

not ordain women. He also said the issue of homosexuality in church

is much like the elephant in the room.

“It’s there and everybody knows it, but nobody wants to really

deal with it,” he said. “Just the way our culture has changed ...

this had to happen.”

* LINDSAY SANDHAM can be reached at (714) 966-4625 or

lindsay.sandham@latimes.com.