wfn.org | Episcopalians: New Hampshire priest is first openly gay man elected bishop

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

June 7, 2003

2003-126

Episcopalians: New Hampshire priest is first openly gay man 
elected bishop

by Jan Nunley

(ENS)The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, canon to the ordinary for the 
Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire since 1988, was elected 
bishop coadjutor on the second ballot in an election held June 7 
at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Concord, New Hampshire. 
Robinson is the first openly gay man in the Episcopal Church to 
be elected as a bishop.

The other nominees were the Rev. Ruth Lawson Kirk, rector of St. 
Peter's Church in Glenside, Pennsylvania; the Rev. Pamela Mott, 
pastor at Trinity Cathedral in Portland, Oregon; and the Rev. 
Robert Tate, rector of St. Martin-in-the-Fields parish in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A fifth nominee, the Rev. Joe 
Goodwin Burnett, withdrew after being elected bishop of Nebraska 
in May.

A bishop coadjutor is consecrated to become the next bishop of a 
diocese upon the retirement of the diocesan bishop, and assists 
the diocesan bishop until retirement. 

Only 39 clergy and 83 lay votes were needed to elect. On the 
first ballot, Robinson received 51 clergy votes and 77 lay 
votes--only 6 lay votes shy of an election. When the second 
ballot was counted, Robinson had 58 clergy votes and 96 lay 
votes--far more than needed to elect him bishop coadjutor of New 
Hampshire.

General Convention must consent

Both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops of the 
General Convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting in 
Minneapolis in late July, must ratify Robinson's election. 

According to Title III, Canon 22, if the date of an election 
occurs within 120 days before a meeting of the General 
Convention, the standing committee of the diocese must forward 
evidence of the election, of the bishop-elect's ordination, of 
the acceptance of election, and a testimonial signed by a 
majority of the electing convention to the secretary of the 
House of Deputies. Biographical information and certificates 
from a medical doctor and a psychiatrist must be included.

The secretary of the House of Deputies presents the documents to 
the house, and if they consent to the ordination, notice is sent 
to the House of Bishops. If a majority of the bishops 
"exercising jurisdiction" (sitting diocesan bishops)consent, the 
presiding bishop notifies the diocesan standing committee and 
the bishop-elect and "takes order" for the ordination of the 
bishop-elect.

Robinson could be ordained by the presiding bishop, by the 
president of Province I--currently the current bishop of Maine, 
Chilton Knudsen--and two other bishops, or by any three bishops 
chosen by the presiding bishop. If Robinson's election receives 
the necessary consents, his consecration will be held November 
2, 2003, and he would be installed as bishop on March 7, 2004.

If either house of the General Convention withholds consent, 
however, the presiding bishop declares the election null and 
void and the diocese must undertake a new election.

Ministry focused on conflict resolution

Robinson was elected just two days short of the 13th anniversary 
of his ordination. As canon to the ordinary, he has coordinated 
diocesan staff and the ministry of the Office of the Bishop. 
Since 1983 he has served as executive secretary of Province I, 
consisting of the dioceses of New England, and since 2001 on the 
board of trustees of the General Theological Seminary in New 
York. 

Much of Robinson's ministry has focused on helping congregations 
and clergy in conflict. He developed and led "Being Well in 
Christ," a conference dealing with the issue of clergy wellness, 
in some 20 dioceses. He also initiated "Fresh Start," a two-year 
mentoring program for clergy in new positions, and co-authored a 
curriculum now used in 44 dioceses. Robinson has done AIDS work 
in Africa and has facilitated anti-racism training for the 
diocese and Province I.

A 1969 graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, 
Tennessee, he has a B.A. in American Studies/History. In 1973, 
he completed the M. Div. at General Seminary and after 
ordination served as curate at Christ Church in Ridgewood, New 
Jersey. 

Upon moving to New Hampshire in 1975, Robinson co-owned and 
directed an accredited girls' summer camp and horse farm. As 
founding director of Sign of the Dove Retreat Center in Temple, 
New Hampshire, he facilitated spiritual direction and designed 
programs for a variety of groups. He also managed the diocesan 
Living into Our Baptism program of spiritual growth and 
development. From 1978-1985, Robinson was youth ministries 
coordinator for Province I, serving for two years on the 
National Youth Ministries Development Team and helping originate 
the national Episcopal Youth Event. 

A leader in the diocese's partnership with the New Hampshire 
Community Loan Fund for affordable housing, he is on the board 
of the New Hampshire Endowment for Health, a foundation working 
for access to health care for the uninsured. He is one of the 
founders of Concord Outright, a support group for 
gay/lesbian/questioning teens. 

Value opposing views

In his answers to questions posed to all candidates by the 
diocesan search committee, posted on the diocesan web site, 
Robinson said, "The particular answer to these questions is less 
important to me than how we as a Church deliberate about them. 
Are we prayerful about them, listening for God's voice instead 
of our own egos? Do we truly value the people who hold an 
opposing view, while disagreeing with their position? And most 
of all, can we continue to come to the communion rail, humbly 
receive the Body and Blood of Christ, respecting the dignity of 
those who disagree with us. I believe we can. And must."

Robinson described accepting Christ "as my personal Lord and 
Savior" at the age of 12 in a Disciples of Christ congregation 
in rural Kentucky. He became an Episcopalian while in college, 
was ordained in 1973, and served his first parish in Ridgewood, 
New Jersey. In 1975, he and his wife left the parish for New 
Hampshire. 

It was in New Hampshire, Robinson said, that he "answered God's 
call to acknowledge myself as a gay man. My wife and I, in order 
to KEEP our wedding vow to 'honor [each other] in the Name of 
God,' made the decision to let each other go. We returned to 
church, where our marriage had begun, and in the context of the 
eucharist, released each other from our wedding vows, asked each 
other's forgiveness, cried a lot, pledged ourselves to the joint 
raising of our children, and shared the Body and Blood of 
Christ.

"Risking the loss of my children and the exercise of my ordained 
ministry in the Church was the biggest risk I've ever taken, but 
it left me with two unshakable things: my integrity and my God," 
he continued. "It won the hearts of my daughters, whom I feared 
losing, and, later, the love of a wonderful partner, with whom 
I've made a home for the past 13 years." The father of two grown 
daughters, Jamee and Ella, Robinson lives with his partner Mark 
Andrew outside Concord, New Hampshire.

A local priest, a bishop--and Mister Rogers

Asked to describe three "contemporary saints," Robinson cited a 
local priest, the Rev. Carl Schaller; Bishop Barbara Harris, the 
first woman elected bishop in the Anglican Communion;  and 
public television's Mister Rogers: "'Won't you be my neighbor?' 
Not a bad role model for a bishop!"

Robinson identified three questions as indicators of key trends 
in the life of the Episcopal Church: "Can we live together while 
we fight? Will our faith have children? Are we a people in 
community, or is it 'us' versus 'them?'"

Answering the last question, Robinson wrote, "There is no room 
for 'them' and 'us' in the Church, because in God's economy, 
there is NO 'them.' A bishop ought not only to preach that 
message, but with God's help, to embody it in his or her 
ministry."

------

News of the bishop search in New Hampshire is available at the 
website of the Diocese of New Hampshire.

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News 
Service. Biographical material for this article was taken from 
the website of the Diocese of New Hampshire.