A WALKOUT by 20 dissenting bishops greeted the election of the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Church last night.
The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, the American wing of the Church of England, confirmed Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire by 62 votes to 43.
However, the jubilation of the Church’s liberal wing was short lived as the 20 bishops called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to intervene for the sake of church unity.
“The bishops who stand before you are filled with sorrow,” Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, said. “This body has denied the plain teaching of Scripture and the moral consensus of the Church throughout the ages. This body has divided itself from millions of Anglican Christians around the world.”
The dispute is also likely to engulf the Archbishop of Canterbury, who issued a brief prepared statement last night saying “there will be difficult days ahead”. Dr Rowan Williams began his summer holiday last night and is currently with friends somewhere in Britain.
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Dr Williams’s statement called for calm and wisdom. “We must be careful before making decisions for our own part of the world which constrains the church elsewhere,” it said.
The vote at the General Convention in Minneapolis to confirm Canon Robinson’s elevation came after a passionate debate among America’s bishops. It went ahead after allegations against Canon Robinson were dismissed by an investigative committee of the Church.