The American Anglican Council (AAC), a conservative group withinthe Episcopal Church in the United States of America,overwhelmingly agreed to ask that its group be realigned with theEpiscopal Church.
The Anglican Council held a national conference at the WyndhamHotel in Dallas from Oct. 7 to Oct. 9. The conference, titled”A Place to Stand: Declaring, Preparing,” was called inresponse to the church’s decisions to both confirm as bishopof New Hampshire the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, a non-celibate openlygay man, and to allow same-sex marriage or blessings.
Rev. Canon David Anderson, president and CEO of the councilsaid. “[The Episcopalians’] decisions on same sexmarriage/blessings and on V. Gene Robinson pulled the EpiscopalChurch … out of the global Anglican tradition.”
Some Episcopalians believe the council should not repudiate thedecision for Robinson to become a bishop simply because he is apracticing homosexual.
“I believe homosexuality is an orientation that one isborn with,” said Andrea Allen, a member of Canterbury House,the Episcopal Ministry at SMU. “[Homosexuality] shouldneither be celebrated nor treated, just considered a part of whosomeone is.”
The Rev. Mario Bergner, author of Setting Love in Order: Hopeand Healing for the Homosexual and a former sexually activehomosexual, believes all people are genuinely heterosexual.
“There has been absolutely no evidence, no biologicalevidence, to say there is an internal map that dictates oursexuality,” Bergner said in his speech to the council.”No one is ontologically homosexual.”
The Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon of The Anglican Digest and one ofthe speakers at the conference believes Bergner’s opinion hasbecome the minority opinion in the Episcopal Church.
The Episcopal Church of the United States of America iscurrently under the Anglican Communion. The head of this communion,the Archbishop of Canterbury, will hold a meeting of the AnglicanPrimates this week to discuss how to realign the AAC.
The council’s conference concluded with nearly all of the2,700 attendees agreeing to appeal to the Anglican Primates.
The Rev. Mike Baker, senior pastor at Holy Cross church inSugarland, Texas, and one of the participants at the conference,said he was anticipating that people might be angry. Instead, afterattending the conference, Baker felt that the Anglicans had a more”repentant kind of attitude.”
“This group is not a splinter group, it’s not goingto divide or leave, it wants to stay,” Baker said.
Allen also does not want the Anglicans to leave the EpiscopalChurch.
“I would prefer unity and trying to work together despiteour differences, but the two viewpoints on this matter seemirreconcilable,” she said.
