Bishop addresses gay issue

As the political and religious fallout from the Episcopal Church's vote to ordain a gay bishop continues, the leader of the church in Utah has issued a letter to members asking for discussion and reflection on the issue.

The Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish directed her pastoral letter to some 6,000 Episcopalians throughout the Diocese of Utah saying the church has "not abandoned scriptural teaching in this recent action. Rather, we have attended to the spirit of scripture in its entirety."

Conservatives both inside and outside the church have accused the denomination of trying to "legislate morality" through their vote, giving formal approval to practicing homosexuality not only among laymen but clergy — a stance they believe is clearly forbidden by God in scripture. Bishop Irish rejected that assertion, writing that "most moral issues arise because there is more than one value at stake in them, and more than one Bible verse relevant to them."

"This creates many perspectives and tensions, yet we believe the Holy Spirit illumines our understanding and guides us in our decisions."

She noted that local representatives at the church's annual General Convention in Minneapolis last week were unanimous in affirming New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson's ordination and in furthering a proposal to formally recognize same-sex unions within the church. The vote further escalated conservative political angst in the United States, as it comes on the heels of the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year to decriminalize sodomy.

Since her own installation as bishop of Utah, "we have not required that homosexual persons be 'closeted' about their sexual orientation, and so we have direct experience of their personhood and the many gifts they bring to us; we are not dealing simply with bits of verses or abstractions" in scripture and past church doctrine, "but real people — our neighbors."

Utah's "ultra-conservative culture . . . has encouraged the Episcopal Church here to be more open to progressive and liberal ideas," she said. "Scientific research has shown that there is a wide spectrum of orientations in human sexuality, depending on genetic inheritance and hormonal balances among other things.

"Thus, homosexuality is not simply a matter of choice, lifestyle or behavior. Science notwithstanding, however, sexuality remains a great mystery to all of us."