News Tip: Schism an Old Story, New Possibility for Episcopalians
The ordination of a gay cleric in New Hampshire could cause the Episcopal Church to split when it meets next week in Dallas, says a Duke Divity professor
Thursday, October 2, 2003
More than 2,200 traditional Episcopalians, including 40 bishops, are expected in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 7-9 to discuss gay ordination and a possible split within the Episcopal Church.
"Such a split may never happen," says David C. Steinmetz, the Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of the History of Christianity at Duke Divinity School. "But if a realignment occurs, it will be nothing new in Anglican history."
The August decision to ordain an openly gay cleric as the new bishop in New Hampshire heightened existing tensions in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. Traditional Episcopalians have rejected the notion that homosexual practice is compatible with the office of bishop, he says, while liberal Episcopalians have appealed for unity and inclusive love.
"The angry traditionalists have drawn a line in the sand," says Steinmetz, former president of the American Society of Church History. "Is the ordination of an openly gay bishop a large enough issue to cause a permanent split in the church, especially in one of America's normally tolerant mainline denominations? It may very well be."
Differences over the relatively inconsequential issue of proper dress for worship led to the division between Anglicans and Puritans, and spawned the formation of the English Presbyterians, the Congregationalists and the Baptists in the late 16th and 17th centuries. Splits also occurred in the 18th and 19th century, when the Methodists and the Reformed Episcopalians, respectively, left the Anglican Church.
"Most traditional Episcopalians want to stay in the Anglican Communion, even if they are desperately unhappy with what they feel is the much too liberal direction of the Episcopal Church," Steinmetz says. "But given the right circumstances, any issue can become a grave matter of conscience that splits the church.
"It would be a fatal error in judgment to think otherwise."
Steinmetz can be reached for further comment at (919) 660-3438 (office), (919) 489-5620 (home), or by e-mail at steinmtz@acpub.duke.edu.
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