Bishop Gene Robinson: "God called me out of the closet"

I had wondered whatever happened to Bp. Gene - CBS Sunday Morning ran an update on his life and faith yesterday:

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Love Free or Die

Love Free or Die (a play on the state motto of New Hampshire) is a new documentary about Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, whose consecration in 2003 has effectively, if not formally, split the Anglican Communion into schism.  Gene attended his consecration wearing a bullet-proof vest and has lived with death threats every day since.  Even if you're not religious, you should admire his courage and his integrity in the face of overwhelming condemnation and vituperation from religious conservatives, both in and out of the Episcopal Church.

Filmmaker Macky Alston discusses his motivation for the documentary:




Gene gives a sermon during Gay Pride in New York City, entitled "Act of Commitment":




A heckler disrupts Gene's sermon during the Lambeth Conference in England, 2008 (Gene was pointedly disinvited from this gathering of all the Anglican bishops in the world, but went to England anyway to meet with supportive clergy and laity):

Bishop Now Requires Gay Priests to Marry

Well if that headline doesn't knock your socks off, what will? Your Head Trucker is still trying to get his head around the fact that the Episcopal Bishop of Long Island, the Right Reverend Lawrence Provenzano, has given all gay and lesbian priests in his diocese nine months in which to marry or split up:

"I deem it to be honest and fair, and I do so direct and require, now that it is legal, that only married couples may live together, either in rectories or elsewhere as a clergy couple living in the midst of our faith community," wrote the bishop, who had earlier welcomed the new law's passage.

Provenzano told Episcopal News Service in a telephone interview July 11 that after he consulted with the leadership of the diocese "it was clear that the consensus of thinking was that there ought to be some time frame" on fulfilling his requirement. "If we left it completely open-ended, it might not be acted on" and that inaction would create a "disparity," he said, noting that he would not allow a heterosexual clergy couple to live together outside of marriage.

The bishop said he has not received any criticism from the gay and lesbian clergy of the diocese. "At least as it applies to the Diocese of Long Island, I don't think it's going to feel to anyone that I am being unpastoral or punitive in any way or creating a hardship for them by saying nine months," he said. "I suspect that most of our partnered gay and lesbian clergy have been living in committed relationships for a fairly long period of time and that the concept of being married is exactly what they've been waiting for to happen, so the church moving in this direction with them is welcomed."

Other Episcopal bishops in New York are still weighing the matter in discussions with clergy and laity, and have not set such a firm rule.  Presbyterians, Lutherans, and other denominations in states where same-sex marriages are permitted are also reconsidering their positions on church weddings or blessings of same-sex couples, clergy as well as laypeople.

Of course, some people still think we are "godless" whether we get married in church or not.  Gee, wouldn't it be interesting to hear the comments and ravings if interracial marriage were put up for a vote today - even now, in 2011?

"Stop the Race Mixing March of the Antichrist" -
segrationists demonstrate in Little Rock, 1957

Bishop Gene Robinson Announces Retirement

Bishop Robinson and his husband, Mark Andrew


From the Concord [New Hampshire] Monitor:

Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson announced yesterday he will retire in 2013, in part because of the death threats and strain he's endured as the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican Church.

Robinson's election seven years ago has divided the 77-million-member Anglican Communion here and overseas. Robinson wore a bulletproof vest at his consecration in Durham in 2003 because of the threats. The controversy has grown more intense as traditionalists formed rival churches.

"The last seven years have taken their toll on me, my family and you," Robinson, 63, told delegates gathered in Concord yesterday for the New Hampshire diocese's annual convention. He was accompanied by his husband, Mark Andrew, whom he married in New Hampshire in 2008. . . .

When Robinson's candidacy was presented to the national church for a ratification vote, several conservative bishops left the room, denouncing the election of a gay man as bishop.

The American church was clearly divided:  62 bishops voted for him, 43 against him, while two abstained. Since then, Episcopal and Anglican traditionalists overseas formed alliances and created the Anglican Church in North America as a conservative rival to the Episcopal church.

And in 2008, Robinson was not invited to the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade meeting of the world's Anglican bishops because of pressure from conservative bishops. Instead, Robinson flew privately to England and spoke at local churches while the other Anglican bishops convened.

Upon his election as bishop, Robinson said he wanted to be "the good bishop, not the gay bishop." But in the last seven years, he has worked to be both, tending to his job's duties in the state but also seeking a bigger stage for gay-rights awareness.

He spoke of that yesterday."I will continue my work of evangelizing the unchurched and the 'de-churched,' " he said. He cited news reports of three gay teenagers who committed suicide "because religion tells them they are an abomination before God. I get to tell them a different story," he said, prompting applause.

You can read Bishop Robinson's entire speech here.

Georgia Megachurch Pastor Comes Out

Queerty reports on the story of Bishop Jim Swilley in Conyers, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metro area:

Swilley, who created the Church In The Now some 25 years ago, is a divorced father of four. But he's known he's gay since he was a boy, says the Rockdale County man of the cloth, and even his wife Debye — whom he divorced earlier this year — knew when they got married (!). The couple kept it a secret for more than two decades, but Jim says Debye recently pushed him to share his story.

The pastor made the announcement to his congregation two weeks ago (yes, it takes time for some stories to trickle), with his family in the audience and decided to come out now after witnessing the rash of gay youths killing themselves. One Internet forum poster says that unlike Atlanta's Long (whom Swilley won't speak about), Swilley has not used the pulpit to denigrate gays: "For those of you familiar with Church In the Now, while never discussing his own sexuality, you know that Swilley has always preached a message of inclusion, love and abundance for all God's children. Bishop Swilley has been asked to step down as Bishop, but will remain as Pastor." (That last part we haven't confirmed.)

Swilley's Blog in the Now is here. The church's website, here.  Report by Atlanta's WSB-TV here:

So Swilley came out to his kids and his congregation. He said he knew he might risk everything, but the recent rash of gay teen suicides pushed him over the edge.  "As a father, thinking about your 16, 17 year old killing themselves. I thought somebody needed to say something," Swilley said through tears. . . .

“I know all the hateful stuff that’s being written about me online, whatever,” Swilley said. “To think about saving a teenager, yeah, I'll risk my reputation for that.”

In this lengthy but moving video, Swilley very honestly discusses his sexuality with his congregation, and his ex-wife and others also speak; the talk gets personal beginning around the 8:00 mark.

Second Gay Episcopal Bishop Ordained

From Episcopal News Service:

Two historic ministries were welcomed in a huge and joyous celebration May 15 as thousands witnessed Diane Jardine Bruce and Mary Douglas Glasspool being consecrated bishops suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

During the three-hour service at the Long Beach Arena, themed 'Rejoice!' Bruce and Glasspool were ordained and consecrated the 16th and 17th women bishops in the Episcopal Church. Bruce is the first woman to be elected a bishop in the Los Angeles diocese. Glasspool, elected Dec. 5, a day after Bruce, is the diocese's first—and the Episcopal Church's second—gay, partnered bishop.

About 30 bishops, including the Rt. Rev. Martin DeJesus Barahona of El Salvador and retired Ugandan bishop Christopher Senyonjo, attended the service.  Retired Massachusetts suffragan bishop Barbara Harris, who in 1988 became the first woman bishop in the Episcopal Church and worldwide Anglican Communion, served as one of seven co-consecrating bishops. She received sustained applause and a standing ovation when Bruno paid tribute to her in his sermon. 

"It's a joy to participate in her consecration," Harris later said of Glasspool, who in 1988 nominated Harris for bishop. "We're great friends. Little did either of us know that both of us would be sitting in the House of Bishops."

"She is going to make a very good bishop," Harris added. "She's a wonderful, caring, loving, pastoral person."  New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, who in 2003 became the first openly gay, partnered bishop in the Episcopal Church, was among the bishops attending the service.