Episcopal Church Tempers Support For Gays

(AP)  Episcopal leaders, pressured to roll back their support for gays to keep the world Anglican family from crumbling, affirmed Tuesday that they will "exercise restraint" in approving another gay bishop.

The bishops also pledged not to approve an official prayer for blessing same-gender couples and insisted a majority of bishops do not allow priests to bless the couples in their parishes.

The statement came in the final hour of an intense six-day meeting and at a crucial moment in the decades-long Anglican debate over how the Bible should be interpreted.

The Anglican fellowship has been splintering since 2003, when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Anglican leaders had set a Sept. 30 deadline for the Americans to pledge unequivocally not to consecrate another gay bishop or approve an official prayer service for same-gender couples.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, took the unusual step of attending the meeting for the first two days, pushing bishops to make concessions for the sake of unity. Anglican lay and clergy representatives from overseas also participated, chastising Episcopal leaders for the turmoil they've caused. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States.

It could take weeks or months before Episcopal bishops will know whether they've done enough to satisfy Anglican leaders.

Anglicans across the theological spectrum will interpret the language of the statement differently. And Williams said he will take time to evaluate the document with a committee representing Anglican leaders and the Anglican Consultative Council, an international lay-clergy panel.

[Krazcarl]

I''m not a rocket scientist but if the bible condems the lifestyle how on gods green earth can the church in any way support it?

[name_verify]

This is what Libs do, destroy churches.

[hwy71so]

I posted without reading the whole article.

Homosexuality as well as incest and infidelity are not tolerated in the Bible and can not be tolerated in the church.

"Go and sin no more" sums it up. The Apostle Paul calls homosexuality an abomination. A sin against nature and God.

[bks59]

why is queer not censored but g a y and s e x are?

[hwy71so]

"Love the sinner, hate the sin. What is it about this statement that people don''''t get. Christ made a command to love everyone, but he didn''''t mean for us to succumb to sinful behavior. Yes Jesus said that "he without sin let him cast the first stone." But for you people who only quote scripture that you only know because you have heard it a thousand times but never read the Bible, Jesus also told that same woman that they were about to stone to go and SIN NO MORE!!! She was not let off the hook guys.

Posted by claytonantho at 07:20 AM : Sep 26, 2007"

Well said.

The episcopal church fails to read the letters to the Corinthians, or Romans.

The episcopal church is striving toward "Many will call unto me Lord, Lord, but I will say depart from me you workers of iniquity."

I say if one is going to teach the Word of God, one had better teach the truth or that one will be hard pressed in the day of judgement explaining why he/she taught lies.

[claytonantho]

Love the sinner, hate the sin. What is it about this statement that people don''t get. Christ made a command to love everyone, but he didn''t mean for us to succumb to sinful behavior. Yes Jesus said that "he without sin let him cast the first stone." But for you people who only quote scripture that you only know because you have heard it a thousand times but never read the Bible, Jesus also told that same woman that they were about to stone to go and SIN NO MORE!!! She was not let off the hook guys.

The bigotry towards *** coming from religious organizations will only weaken the appeal of those religions. Homosexuality is widely accepted in our society, especially among younger Americans, so a hard line stance against *** will only alienate people and lead towards less participation in those religions. Many young people do not understand why many are so against homosexuality, when they see it around them and have no problem with it. People who denounce homosexuality because of their religious dogma are not putting forward a persuasive argument.

[kansas1946]

Do what the intelligent people do - renounce religion and accept reality into your life. Just think of the money you''''ll save by not being extorted into supporting the church through the collection plate.
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Posted by hungry1968 at 12:10 AM : Sep 26, 2007
****************
You know, hungry, you bring up a good point. Although, a lot of people who believe in God, and or Jesus, may not want to just "not believe" (that probably is not even possible) I am wondering why they feel compelled to join a particular church. It seems to me, that in the New Testament, that Jesus was the church and you really didn''t need to go to a multi-million dollar building to be in his "church."
If all of those Christains would really practice what Jesus taught, read their Bible, (the New Testament), and instead of giving their money to people churches, give it to the church of Jesus, which is direct giving to the poor and disenfranchised, we could probably solve most of the social problems we have today. Just think of those trillians of dollars that go to buy some preacher a Cadillac, or that huge new building, etc., would now go to help pregnant teens, treatment for drug abusers, shelters for battered women, safe and loving homes for children at risk, food for the hungary, clean water for communities that do not have it, health care for people who can''t afford it. Sigh...only a dream.

[hungry1968]

"Nowhere in the Bible will you ever find room for practicing homos in the church, be it leadership or congregation, you''ll not find it."

No where will you find Chrisitanity renouncing homosexuality either. By not renouncing it, isn''t that a form of sanctioning it?



"You will find that this behavior is abhorrent and an abomination. The Bible was written to the church - those who have placed their faith and lives into Jesus hands completely."

Really? Who wrote it? What was his / her name? After they wrote it, who interpretted it into it''s current language? When it was translated, how do you know that some parts weren''t add and / or subtracted? How much do you REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE BIBLE, other than the title?!?!?!

[kansas1946]

True believers submit to the teachings of the Bible and Jesus
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MityWhity,
Do you allow people in your church who are divorced and remarried. Do you allow pastors in your church that have been divorced and remarried? Do you allow officers, deacons, elders, etc., in your church that are divorced and remarried?
If so, you are not following the teachings of Jesus.