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CHURCH IN CRISIS: Series of articles examining the church's attitudes to social change at home and abroad

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The Episcopal Church has passed a resolution approving the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy. Some see this is a bold move, pushing the Episcopal Church into the forefront of the fight for gay rights. Others see it is a weak and belated admission that the church, yet again, lags behind public opinion. And a bitter and vocal minority view it as a move promoting sin and decadence in the church. At OSL we wholly support the resolution and say loudly, "About time! The church needs gay clergy."

The resolution further recognized that "the baptized membership of The Episcopal Church includes same-sex couples living in lifelong committed relationships characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God."

For the church, monogamy and lifelong sexual commitment are a big deal. The church wants to pour gay relationships into the same mould it approves for heterosexuals, i.e. no sex before marriage, monogamy, and the much-vaunted lifelong partnership. 

The church, with typical timidity, says nothing about gay marriage, no doubt fearing that the resolution on gay and lesbian clergy would not pass if it was linked to demands for same sex marriage. However, a separate resolution recommending that bishops be allowed to bless same sex unions was passed, which might pave the way for same sex marriage in church.

Social activists have long since stopped expecting the church to be in the forefront of campaigns for social change. These days, the church, not just the Episcopal Church but all mainstream protestant denominations, devote most of their efforts to preserving the status quo and maintaining an uneasy unity between liberals and conservatives under the broad umbrella of Christianity. The unity of the church is more important to many Christians than the rights of people to love and marry who they want.

Love is a human right

Relying on hardline interpretation of sacred texts, the critics of same sex unions and gay clergy claim they know that God does not approve of men loving men and women loving women. 

Furthermore, conservatives believe that the fact of being gay prevents a person from being a good enough Christian to be ordained.

At OSL, we consider these views to be backward and abhorrent. We argue strongly that gay people and gay couples should be afforded the same rights as straight people and straight couples. No one has the right to claim privileged insight into the "mind" og God. No one can convincingly argue that God or Jesus has defined love and marriage in one strict form that	Colors of pride
must stand for all time.  We believe it is healthier for the church to split and for liberals and conservatives to go their separate ways. The unity they present to the public is thinner than a thread and false. What can possibly unite two groups whose views of love are worlds apart? Progressive	Kara Goucher: How to build an athlete's body

protestants have a loving and tolerant view of their brothers and sisters, are accepting of other faiths and lifestyles, while the evangelical hardliners are convinced that anyone who steps outside of their strict interpretation of stricture is headed to hell. Conservative evangelicals earnestly believe that many of their fellow Christians are damned. How can one talk of brotherly and sister love when one group believes that the other is

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headed for an eternity of separation from God?  That said, we have to acknowledge that the Episcopal Church has taken a tiny step -- for them a huge step -- in the right direction. With honesty and openness that is unusual within the church, they have admitted that many good and practicing Christians are gay, that many of those gay and lesbian Christians are well

suited for ordination, able to serve God and a community of faith. We expect that they will also in years ahead accept that gay people have the right to marry in church, and that same sex marriage is not only acceptable to society but also to God.

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The American branch of the Anglican Church, the Episcopal Church, has approved a resolution to ordain gay and lesbian clergy. This is a move in the direction of human rights, ending sexual apartheid in the church and recognizing that human love and human sexual relations are not solely a matter of man toward woman.

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