http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/269390_episcopal08.html
Joy as gay dean stays at St. Mark's
Pastor loses election for Episcopal bishop of California
Monday, May 8, 2006
It was not until the Very Rev. Robert Taylor had stepped to his
pulpit at Sunday's 11 a.m. service at St. Mark's Episcopal
Cathedral that applause erupted in some back rows. His congregation
quickly stood, and the ovation spread, row by row.
At first, Taylor motioned for people to sit. Then he smiled. The
Capitol Hill worshippers were disobeying his request. Church
members knew that Taylor, the cathedral's openly gay dean, had lost
Saturday's election to be the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese
of California.
The Very Rev. Robert Taylor, openly gay dean of St. Mark's
Episcopal Cathedral, greets 7-month-old Maxwell Keeler after
services on Sunday.
By applauding, they let him know he still had a home in
Seattle.
The diocese elected the Right Rev. Mark Andrus, 49, bishop
suffragan of the diocese of Alabama, as its first new bishop in 27
years, a decision that averted inflaming a crisis over
homosexuality in the denomination.
The broader Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion to which it
belongs have been shaken by a dispute over the inclusion of gay men
and lesbians that grew increasingly acrimonious after the Episcopal
Church consecrated the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as
bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
In the Diocese of California, three of the seven candidates on
Saturday's ballot for bishop were openly gay or lesbian ministers
in long-term relationships. None of the gay candidates received
more than a handful of votes.
Taylor, 48, is from South Africa and arrived at St. Mark's in 1999.
A protégé of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he leads about 2,400 members
of St. Mark's.
He shares his life with his partner, Jerry Smith.
If a gay candidate had been elected, the trickle of congregations
that have left the Episcopal Church USA since the consecration of
Bishop Robinson might have accelerated, and the strained relations
between the Episcopal Church and the broader communion could have
been pushed to a schism, church experts have said.
The American Anglican Council has said that the election of a
non-celibate gay bishop would "set off a firestorm."
Taylor said he is aware of the division.
"I think the question we're struggling with as a church is that
baptism makes everyone a full member of the church," he said in an
interview Sunday.
"So we're struggling to live the truth of what God already knows.
... God is inclusive. God is filled with love and justice."
After the approximately 500 church members took their seats, Taylor
opened his sermon with an understatement, causing many people to
laugh: "Something happened yesterday."
He thanked the congregation for its support, both for him and for
Smith, and said their lives have been strengthened during this
process.
He also talked about St. Mark's -- which he calls "a house of
prayer for all people" and is celebrating its 75th anniversary --
and how the church has made controversial choices based on
compassion and justice.
Those include opposing the war in Iraq. "Have we and will we
disappoint some? Yes," he said.
He also repeated a passage that the congregation read earlier in
the service. "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be
has not yet been revealed," he said.
Inside the high-ceilinged, well-lit cathedral, people said they
were happy that Taylor would be staying. They praised him for his
ability to challenge people and to bring out the best in
them.
Among the congregation was Helen Morse, a downtown Seattle
resident. She was one of the first people to stand and clap. She
said her friend nudged her to action. "There was apprehension that
he was going to leave."
For her, having gays and lesbians at the church was not a problem.
"We've accepted it."
"Sometimes fear gets in the way of progress," said Liz Ford, a
41-year-old Seward Park resident. "He's brilliant."
Deacon Mary Shehane said Taylor would have made a great bishop --
but she's happy he is staying on Capitol Hill.
She added that churches can have differences on controversial
issues. "But we've managed to hold together," she said.
In an acceptance statement via a phone call piped into Grace
Cathedral, Andrus -- the new bishop -- said he would continue to
support the full inclusion of gay men and lesbians in the
diocese.
"We must all understand, and here I address the Diocese of
California and those listening from elsewhere, that your vote today
remains a vote for inclusion and communion -- of gay and lesbian
people in their full lives as single or partnered people, of women,
of all ethnic minorities, and all people," Andrus said, referring
to continuing in the Anglican Communion, which has about 77 million
members worldwide.
"My commitment to Jesus Christ's own mission of inclusion is
resolute."
Despite the tension surrounding the vote, local clergy members and
lay delegates who voted on Saturday and outside experts familiar
with the diocese said that the candidates' sexual orientation did
not play a role in the election.
In meetings two weeks ago between the seven candidates and members
of the diocese, people emphasized that they wanted a bishop with a
commitment to social justice, evangelism and young people, said
those who went to the meetings.
To win, a candidate needed to receive a simple majority of the
votes of the two representative bodies, the lay delegates from the
parishes and the clergy members, on the same ballot.
Some parishioners said Andrus won because he was the safe bet: a
straight, white male, not unlike Bishop William Swing, the current
bishop who will retire in July.
But others who voted said that Andrus' open support of gay men and
lesbians while serving as the bishop suffragan, or assistant
bishop, in Alabama, a clearly unpopular position in that diocese,
won them over.
The Episcopal Church's triennial general convention will meet in
Columbus, Ohio, in mid-June, and Andrus is expected to be
consecrated there. But while the vote in California did not worsen
tensions in the Episcopal Church, anger over the acceptance of gays
continues to simmer -- as does the possibility that an openly gay
or lesbian bishop might be elected elsewhere, such as in Tennessee
and New Jersey.
At St. Mark's on Sunday, though, people just smiled when they saw
Taylor stand before them.
As worshippers left, many wrapped their arms around him. Taylor
knelt down and gave two boys "high fives."
"Happy Sunday," he finally said to one church member.