[Ednote: Even though the Bible clearly states the following: 1 Corinthians 6:9-12 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any," some believe they can get around the teaching somehow. The Bible is the same yesterday, today and forever. Thank God, we can totally depend on God's Word. Being washed means to come out of the sinful behavior and serve Christ Jesus by living the Word as it is intended to apply. There is no one to die for deliberate continued sin. Hell is still the sentence when the Word of God is not complied with. End of note]

The man at the center of a worldwide church debate over homosexuality said last week that Jesus has been a model of strength and stability for him during the past few months of controversy leading up to his consecration as bishop of New Hampshire on Nov. 2.

"I have been reflecting a lot about Jesus at His trial," the Rev. Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, told a conference of gay and lesbian Christians. "It has given me a profound respect for our Savior, who was silent at His trial and just absorbed the evil that was there."

Robinson addressed the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement's conference at Manchester University in England by videolink from New Hampshire.

"It was the religious establishment that [was] often enraged by what Jesus said and did. It is the marginalized who rejoiced. In some ways the world hasn't changed," Robinson said. "This loving God of ours offers us a promised land, just as He did to the Hebrews."

Robinson said he had received messages of support as well as abusive mail. "I'm getting lots of hate mail – and lots of love letters of incredible passion and depth," he told the 250 delegates. He said he stopped counting his e-mails when they exceeded 8,000 messages. "The fact of the matter is that I am neither the devil one side would take me to be, nor the saint that others would have me to be. I am trying to hold on to who I am, as a human being and as a Christian on his own journey toward God."

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was criticized for canceling his own appearance at the conference. Conference organizer Richard Kirker told British Broadcasting Corp. that the archbishop had been "quite clearly put under pressure" not to attend.

Robinson said he would proceed with the consecration, defying Anglican world leaders, unless God told him otherwise. "I've been praying about this long and hard ... and God wants me to move forward with this," he told The New York Times.

He was elected by New Hampshire clergy and lay church members in June, and his selection was approved by the national Episcopal Church in August, causing a global rift in the Anglican Communion.

After an emergency meeting in London last month, the 38 Anglican primates, who lead the provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion, issued a unanimous statement warning that if the consecration proceeded it would "tear the fabric of our communion at its deepest level." (See religionjournal.com 10/19/03.)

Robinson said that if he withdrew and decided not to go ahead with the consecration, nothing would be resolved because the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Anglican Communion, has become a refuge for many lesbian and gay priests and lay people.

"Anybody who thinks this would just go away if I stand down is being delusional," Robinson told the Times. "If I were to stand down today, it would not be very long until one of them was nominated and elected."

Fifty bishops were expected to attend the consecration. Bishop Frank Griswold, leader of the Episcopal Church, said he would preside, and among the three bishops who agreed to consecrate Robinson was Edmond L. Browning, a former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

The week before the consecration, Robinson was under 24-hour police protection from bodyguards because he said he feared his life might be in danger.

He told The Washington Times that he would not take responsibility for whether the worldwide Anglican Communion split because of his consecration. "I will bear the responsibility for trying to discern God's call and following it, but we are not in control of whether people choose to leave or not to leave."

Robinson said he thought it was premature to predict that the 70 million-member Anglican Communion would split. "Once people see what little effect this has in their day-to-day life and in the life of their local congregation, I don't believe people will want to give up their churches just because the bishop of New Hampshire is gay," he told The Washington Times.

Robinson, 56, of Weare, N.H., was to be consecrated at the Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham during a service beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Twenty orthodox Episcopalian ministers said they would hold an alternative service, hosted by the Rev. Terry Sharbaugh of Durham Evangelical Church, at the same time as the consecration, according to the Concord Monitor.

The alternative service was expected to draw about 400 people. It was to begin with singing and praying outside the church, and then Episcopal priests, bishops and lay ministers were to lead an Anglican service and offer pastoral care to people opposed to Robinson's election.

The Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina, was to preach at that service, and he said last week that he hoped for a prayerful atmosphere. "It's part of a truthful witness to [Robinson's consecration]. This is a very, very decisive moment in the history of Christianity," Harmon said.

There also were reports that someone would speak out in protest during the consecration service at the Whittemore Center.

The Rev. David Runnion-Bareford of Candia, N.H., planned to lead a nondenominational candlelight vigil outside the Whittemore Center during the consecration service, the Monitor reported.

Runnion-Bareford – executive director of the Biblical Witness Fellowship, a national conservative movement within the United Church of Christ – invited Christians to join him with a "humble spirit" but no signs. He said he did not want his effort confused with that of a Kansas group that was expected to demonstrate with signs proclaiming that homosexuals deserve death.

"This is not meant to derail the consecration or be a political protest," Andrew Pearson of the American Anglican Council, a conservative group that helped plan the alternative service, told The Associated Press. "It's not even about Gene Robinson. It's about those folks who feel shut out and have no place to call home in New Hampshire."

Meanwhile, conservative Episcopalians unveiled formal plans for a "safe haven" for those who want to remain part of the Episcopal Church but oppose the denomination's failure to enforce its policies on homosexuality.

The AAC, meeting in Fairfax, Va., said in a news release that the group had received approval and encouragement from the archbishop of Canterbury for conservatives to form a "network of confessing dioceses and parishes." The AAC said parishes in the United States might align themselves with like-minded congregations in Canada, in defiance of existing national church structures.

The AAC released guidelines that would allow conservative parishes to seek supervision from like-minded bishops beyond their dioceses. Such parishes would submit an application to a panel of three bishops appointed by the AAC, and would not need to notify the local bishop of their plans.

"Our course is getting clearer each week," the Rev. David Anderson of the AAC said. Harmon, the conservative leader from South Carolina, told The New York Times that at least seven dioceses would associate themselves with the new network.

Robinson charged last week that the campaign against his consecration is funded by a few major conservative donors with a larger political agenda. His supporters suggested that the two main organizations battling the Episcopal Church over Robinson's election are heavily financed by the Scaife and Ahmanson families, heirs to banking fortunes who have given to a range of conservative causes, The Washington Post reported.

"It worries me that a few extremely conservative individuals, for political reasons of their own, are trying to manipulate the people of the Episcopal Church," Robinson told the Post. The two main groups opposed to Robinson are the AAC and the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a conservative think tank.

"Somehow, when conservatives get together it's a conspiracy, and when liberals get together it's working for justice. It's a total double standard," Bruce Mason, a spokesman for the AAC, told the Post.

Also last week, Williams announced the names of the people who will sit on a commission set up to tackle the crisis over homosexuality in the Anglican Communion.

The commission, created after last month's summit of the Anglican primates at Lambeth Palace, will be chaired by Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Robin Eames. It consists of both conservatives and liberals and will start work next year, with a deadline of reporting to Williams by the end of September 2004. [ http://www.religionjournal.com/showarticle.asp?id=593 ]