His election in 2003 as bishop of New Hampshire for the Episcopal Church threw the Anglican Communion into turmoil. The Christian right talked of fracture. Eight years on however, the Communion remains intact and Gene Robinson continues to be a beacon of hope for the LGBT community. Laurence Watts travelled to New England to talk faith, service and retirement with The Right Reverend Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire.
Conservatives thought it was the end of the world. For the LGBT faith community it provided hope and much needed affirmation. When Gene Robinson was elected Bishop by the diocese of New Hampshire on June 7th 2003 it made headlines the world over. When ratified he would become the world’s first openly gay priest to be ordained as bishop.
“I first felt called to the priesthood late in my college years and went right to seminary out of college,” he tells me. “But it wasn’t until the early 90s that I began to experience God calling me to the episcopate. I resisted for a long time because I knew that it wouldn’t be an easy journey.”
After Robinson’s election the right moved quickly and publicly to block his consecration. Although there was some domestic opposition, the majority of noise came from the Anglican Communion’s African churches, which threatened to leave the Communion or somehow cast out the Episcopal Church should he become bishop.
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Complete article at Pink News : http://bit.ly/niyHg1
