Statement by the Bishop of Oklahoma
The election of the Revd Gene Robinson to be the next Bishop of New Hampshire has caused several people in this diocese to call and inquire as to my reaction to his election. Will I support his election when it comes before the House of Bishops at the General Convention?
My reaction is one of respect for the people of the Diocese of New Hampshire. They did a bold thing in electing the Revd Gene Robinson. Homosexuals are modern outcasts, like lepers in Jesus' day. In many people, they engender fear and loathing. In my ministry I have seen good people become filled with hate and disgust when the subject was homosexuality. At a vestry meeting I once attended, one man said, "If my son said he was gay, I would disown him." The Episcopal Church in New Hampshire has obviously moved beyond that stage of fear and prejudice. They have seen the humanity in a gay man and they have decided that his humanity is more important than his gayness.
I do plan to support his election. The Diocese of New Hampshire elected him after knowing him and observing his ministry for many years. They have confidence that he will be a good bishop. New Hampshire is known as a conservative State and yet the clergy and people elected a man they knew was gay and living with another man in a committed relationship.
The Church has spent a great deal of time studying and debating the place of homosexual men and women in its life. It is a subject that elicits great passion and it has the potential to split apart the Body of Christ. So did the inclusion of Gentiles in the first century! So did the breaking down of slavery in the nineteenth century! So did Civil Rights! So did the ordination of women! I follow Christ as my Lord and Saviour and Christ keeps breaking down barriers that religious people once thought were sacred. I think that our Lord is doing the same thing today with our attitudes towards homosexual men and women, gays and lesbians. Thus, I will vote to support the election in New Hampshire and welcome Bishop-elect Robinson as a brother bishop in the Episcopal Church.
God bless this Church.
+Robert M Moody
Bishop of Oklahoma
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.)
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