Brother Fire

I'm a bit troubled at the conclusion of the Lambeth Conference. Some have declared the conference a success because there was no further splintering or rebellion. How could there be? 250 of the most conservative Bishops were not in attendance, nor was the Bishop who was the focus of the controversy, Bp. V. Gene Robinson. In addition, there were no motions and no church legislation to be voted on. So did anyone leave the Anglican Communion? No. However the victory is hollow considering that nothing was gained during the conference. It seems that the conference was dominated by the American contingency (21% of the Bishops in attendance were from the Episcopal Church of the US). And with alleged "white papers" being distributed by Americans throughout the conference, it seems that their agenda became the focus. What I find most disturbing is that Archbishop Rowan Williams called that there be a moratorium on further consecrations of gay Bishops and that gay-sex is st...

I had the pleasure of meeting Bp. V. Gene Robinson (the first openly gay Bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church) last month. I was amazed by his positive perspective on the future of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Despite the fact that he was being deliberately excluded from the Lambeth Conference, it was clear that he saw his presence there (on the outskirts of the conference) as an important opportunity to get to introduce himself to other Bishops. He told us that there would be a number of foreign Bishops who will discreetly meet with him, however he had to promise not to disclose the meetings as the consequences to the visiting Bishops could be dire. I've been trying to follow the debate at the conference regarding the issue of homosexuality -- specifically the ordination of gay men & lesbians, and same-sex marriage, however the coverage in the mainstream media has been scant. Interestingly, Stephen Colbert addressed the issue on the Colbert Repor...