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American Morning

Gay Bishop Decision Today

Aired August 04, 2003 - 07:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The Episcopal Church will decide today whether to elect its first openly gay bishop. The Reverend Gene Robinson is a divorced father of two, who has lived with his male partner for 13 years. He is two-thirds of the way through the approval process. Opponents say his homosexuality is contrary to the word of God, and warned that his appointment could split the church.
The Reverend Dr. Ian Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School joins us now from Minneapolis for more on this.

Good morning to you, Professor. Thanks for being with us today.

DR. IAN DOUGLAS, EPISCOPAL DIVINITY SCHOOL: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: I want to ask you, how significant is today's vote? Can you put it into perspective a little bit for us?

DOUGLAS: Well, clearly, in the history of the Episcopal Church, there has never been an out-gay man or a lesbian woman in the history of the church, who has been elected and then comes before the consent process. So, this is a first with the Episcopal Church, and I dare say for the Anglican community globally.

COLLINS: If Reverend Robinson is approved today, how concerned are you about a divide in the church?

DOUGLAS: Well, we would be kidding ourselves if we didn't say that, in fact, there are many Christians in the United States and around the world for whom this is a very, very difficult decision. And, as a result, to be concerned about a split in the church in the United States and in the broader Anglican community I think is a very important thing we need to take into consideration.

That having been said, Anglicanism, of which the Episcopal Church is a United States constituent member, is a very broad and comprehensive church. We are a church that is an inclusive, loving community that embraces many and has weathered the storms of controversies in the past.

So, it will be difficult, no question about it. And we shouldn't minimize the severity of this vote while, while at the same time we hope and pray that in the loving embrace of God all things will be reconciled one to another.

COLLINS: And on that same note, there is a gay clergyman, Dr. Jeffrey John (ph), in England, who recently walked away from becoming that country's first gay bishop when it became clear to him that his election would cause Anglican communities in Africa and Asia to split from the Anglican movement. What are your thoughts on that?

DOUGLAS: You're absolutely right, Heidi. I mean, Dr. Jeffrey John (ph) was nominated for the Diocese of Oxford, and he also an out- gay man. But we have to recall that the Church of England is the mother church of the Anglican Communion, and in some respects we in the United States are one of the colonies. And although this is significant and the Episcopal Church does have a presence in the broader world, that's not to minimize our decision here. But, still, we're not the mother church, we're not the Church of England. We are still one of the colonies, and so it's not quite as significant as a decision for Dr. Jeffrey John (ph) and the Church of England.

COLLINS: It seems kind of like there needs to be a balance found here, if you will, between church unity and then church evolution, and the plans for the church in the future. Would you agree with that?

DOUGLAS: You're absolutely right, Heidi. I mean, the Anglican Communion is and in our Anglican tradition, we believe in an incarnate God, in Jesus Christ who lives and walks, and it's part of us in our day-and-day life. And so, we live fully in the context of our cultures and of our realities in which we walk, while at the same time we are the church catholic. We are in relationship with the church that's gone before us and the church universal.

So, the question of being genuinely grounded in the contextual realities in which we live, yet still connected to the church universal, is always the tension in which we live as Christians, as Anglicans Christians. So, you've hit it right on the head. How can we be faithful to our local context while being faithful to the tradition? Not easy, but Anglicans have a gift to do it.

COLLINS: It's certainly always a challenge. Thank you so much, Professor Ian Douglas from the Episcopal Divinity School.

DOUGLAS: Thank you so much. My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired August 4, 2003 - 07:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The Episcopal Church will decide today whether to elect its first openly gay bishop. The Reverend Gene Robinson is a divorced father of two, who has lived with his male partner for 13 years. He is two-thirds of the way through the approval process. Opponents say his homosexuality is contrary to the word of God, and warned that his appointment could split the church.
The Reverend Dr. Ian Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School joins us now from Minneapolis for more on this.

Good morning to you, Professor. Thanks for being with us today.

DR. IAN DOUGLAS, EPISCOPAL DIVINITY SCHOOL: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: I want to ask you, how significant is today's vote? Can you put it into perspective a little bit for us?

DOUGLAS: Well, clearly, in the history of the Episcopal Church, there has never been an out-gay man or a lesbian woman in the history of the church, who has been elected and then comes before the consent process. So, this is a first with the Episcopal Church, and I dare say for the Anglican community globally.

COLLINS: If Reverend Robinson is approved today, how concerned are you about a divide in the church?

DOUGLAS: Well, we would be kidding ourselves if we didn't say that, in fact, there are many Christians in the United States and around the world for whom this is a very, very difficult decision. And, as a result, to be concerned about a split in the church in the United States and in the broader Anglican community I think is a very important thing we need to take into consideration.

That having been said, Anglicanism, of which the Episcopal Church is a United States constituent member, is a very broad and comprehensive church. We are a church that is an inclusive, loving community that embraces many and has weathered the storms of controversies in the past.

So, it will be difficult, no question about it. And we shouldn't minimize the severity of this vote while, while at the same time we hope and pray that in the loving embrace of God all things will be reconciled one to another.

COLLINS: And on that same note, there is a gay clergyman, Dr. Jeffrey John (ph), in England, who recently walked away from becoming that country's first gay bishop when it became clear to him that his election would cause Anglican communities in Africa and Asia to split from the Anglican movement. What are your thoughts on that?

DOUGLAS: You're absolutely right, Heidi. I mean, Dr. Jeffrey John (ph) was nominated for the Diocese of Oxford, and he also an out- gay man. But we have to recall that the Church of England is the mother church of the Anglican Communion, and in some respects we in the United States are one of the colonies. And although this is significant and the Episcopal Church does have a presence in the broader world, that's not to minimize our decision here. But, still, we're not the mother church, we're not the Church of England. We are still one of the colonies, and so it's not quite as significant as a decision for Dr. Jeffrey John (ph) and the Church of England.

COLLINS: It seems kind of like there needs to be a balance found here, if you will, between church unity and then church evolution, and the plans for the church in the future. Would you agree with that?

DOUGLAS: You're absolutely right, Heidi. I mean, the Anglican Communion is and in our Anglican tradition, we believe in an incarnate God, in Jesus Christ who lives and walks, and it's part of us in our day-and-day life. And so, we live fully in the context of our cultures and of our realities in which we walk, while at the same time we are the church catholic. We are in relationship with the church that's gone before us and the church universal.

So, the question of being genuinely grounded in the contextual realities in which we live, yet still connected to the church universal, is always the tension in which we live as Christians, as Anglicans Christians. So, you've hit it right on the head. How can we be faithful to our local context while being faithful to the tradition? Not easy, but Anglicans have a gift to do it.

COLLINS: It's certainly always a challenge. Thank you so much, Professor Ian Douglas from the Episcopal Divinity School.

DOUGLAS: Thank you so much. My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.